Some Aspects of Empowerment: A Case Study of Work with Disadvantaged Youth

Abstract

This article describes and comments on negotiations between an agency worker, his supervisors, and a group of disadvantaged young people on the involvement of young people in the appointment of a new agency worker. It provides some background on the actors and the agency, tells what happened and aims to identify some aspects of empowerment through the use of a simple grid. By comparison with the daily experience of disadvantage of the young people involved it is a minor experience in empowerment. Despite that it is a case study placed within a radical tradition espousing the pursuit of social justice.