by Allan E. Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD
As social work educator and pioneer Dr. Elaine Pinderhughes states in her 1983 article, “Empowerment for Our Clients and for Ourselves,” energy denotes one’s capability “to affect the forces which have an effect on one’s life house for one’s personal profit” (p. 332). Every particular person possesses varied levels of energy in relation with others. Interpersonal energy stems from components reminiscent of entry to information, cash, sources, communication abilities, affiliations, bodily energy, ethical standing, and different private qualities. As social staff entrusted with the first moral duty of serving our purchasers (NASW, 2021, s.1), we’re educated to empower purchasers by fostering situations that improve their sense of management over their lives and choices affecting them.
Whereas our skilled focus usually lies in empowering others, this yr’s NASW Social Work Month theme, “Empowering Social Employees,” serves as a well timed reminder of the significance of self-empowerment. Simply as we facilitate empowerment for purchasers by recognizing the doable sources of energy of their social and bodily environments, we are able to additionally empower ourselves by acknowledging the sources of energy in our personal environments. Take into account the ecomap beneath.
In your individual scenario, contemplate how varied techniques in your setting could also be empowering you to do the work you aspire to do and to stay the life you want to stay. To what extent is your apply setting offering you with supportive insurance policies; conducive working situations; truthful compensation; and entry to the persevering with schooling, expertise, and supervision that you could be must flourish? If you wish to diversify into new areas of apply, to what extent do your supervisors {and professional} associations offer you steerage and help that it is advisable develop your competencies and repertoire of intervention methods? If you’re experiencing work-related stress, to what extent are your loved ones, mates, medical professionals, and leisure techniques offering you with shops to handle stress and keep your psychosocial well-being? Additional, as you empower purchasers to handle their issues and pursue their objectives, are you additionally feeling empowered by the significant connections and repair that you’re offering?
As we embrace the ethos of empowerment for our purchasers and ourselves, we’re reminded to acknowledge and entry varied types of help, cultivating our skilled and private environments to make sure that they’re conducive to our autonomy, development, and psychosocial well-being. As we empower ourselves, we’re additionally enhancing our capacity to empower the people, households, teams, and communities that we serve.
References
Nationwide Affiliation of Social Employees (NASW). (2021). Code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
Pinderhughes, E. B. (1983). Empowerment for our purchasers and for ourselves. Social Casework, 64(6), 331-338. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/104438948306400602
Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD, is Professor of Social Work at Florida Atlantic College and creator of Social Work Values and Ethics (Oxford College Press).
The views expressed on this article don’t essentially symbolize the views of any of the organizations to which the creator is affiliated, or the views of The New Social Employee journal or White Hat Communications.
