The girls work method: what is the role of empowerment in building girls’ agency?

ABSTRACT

Girls Work, as one of the methods used by professional youth work, focuses on helping vulnerable girls to shape their own lives (a capacity also referred to as ‘agency’). In this study, it is hypothesised that the methodical principles (i.e. the guiding principles of the methodical actions of the youth worker) contribute to the empowerment process of girls, which in turn leads to the development of girls’ agency. Serial mediation was used to test this hypothesis. Results indicate that all of the methodical principles, with the exception of the use of context, are important in helping girls develop agency. Four of the methodical principles contribute to both empowerment and agency, while the other methodical principles contribute to agency only through empowerment. This paper also addresses the importance of focusing on the empowerment of girls, as empowerment is positively linked with agency. All of the components of individual empowerment are important when helping girls develop their agency.

SAMENVATTING

Meidenwerk, een specifieke methodiek van het jongerenwerk, richt zich op het ondersteunen van meiden in kwetsbare posities bij het (leren) vormgeven aan hun eigen leven (ook bekend als agency). In dit onderzoek wordt verondersteld dat de methodische principes (uitgangspunten in het methodisch handelen van de jongerenwerkers) bijdragen aan het proces van empowerment, dat op zijn beurt weer leidt tot de ontwikkeling van agency bij meiden. Om dit te toetsen is een mediatie-analyse uitgevoerd. De resultaten wijzen erop dat alle methodische principes, met uitzondering van ‘werken met de omgeving’, bijdragen aan hoe meiden agency ontwikkelen. Vier van de methodische principes dragen bij aan zowel het empowermentproces als de ontwikkeling van agency, terwijl de andere methodische principes alleen via het empowermentproces bijdragen aan de ontwikkeling van agency. Dit artikel wijst op het belang om aandacht te hebben voor de empowerment van meiden in kwetsbare situaties, omdat er een positieve relatie is tussen het empowermentproces en de ontwikkeling van agency. Hierbij is het belangrijk dat er aandacht is voor alle drie de componenten van psychologische empowerment.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• girls work
• agency
• empowerment
• practice/theory/methods

TREFWOORDEN:

• jongeren
• meidenwerk
• agency
• empowerment
• praktijk/theorie/methodieken

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to Evelien Nijland-Rauwerdink, MSW, Jolanda Sonneveld, MSc, Dr Willeke Manders, Fatima Bourri, MEd and the students who assisted us in the data collection as part of their study. This article is based on data that were also used in a previous report which is currently accepted for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Youth workers were asked how many girls participate in their Girls Work activities. Most youth workers estimated the number of girls, as for most activities the number is uncertain due to incomplete registrations and weekly fluctuating attendance numbers.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Taskforce for Applied Research SIA, part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) [Reference number 2015-02-03P]. The eight youth work providers who participated in this research also contributed financially to this research by permitting their youth workers to devote time to cooperate with our research.

Notes on contributors

Cynthia Boomkens

Cynthia Boomkens is a researcher and lecturer at the School of Social Work and Law of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. She is a PhD-student at the Academic Workplace Social Work at Tilburg University/Tranzo. Her research focuses on youth work, and more specifically Girls Work, which she is conducting in close collaboration with youth work organisations and social work education.

Judith W. Metz

Judith Metz is Professor Youth Work at the School of Social Work and Law of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. In close collaboration with youth workers, lecturers, students and researchers, she uses practice research for the professionalisation of professional youth work practice. Metz is the (co)author of many books including Volunteering and youth services and Kracht van meiden! Meidenwerk als specifieke methodiek van het jongerenwerk – and articles on professional youth work, volunteering, and social work.

René M. J. D. Schalk

Professor René Schalk is associated with the departments of Tranzo and Human Resource Studies of Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He is an extraordinary professor at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of North-West University, South Africa. His research interests cover the broad area of social work, human resources, organisation studies, and well-being. His research has a special focus on the dynamics of psychological contracts and empowerment.

Tine M. R. F. Van Regenmortel

Professor Tine van Regenmortel is head of the Poverty, Social Integration and Migration Research Group at HIVA, Research Institute for Work and Society at KU Leuven, and she is a coordinator of the Academic Workplace Social Work at Tilburg University/Tranzo. She has extensive expertise in the field of empowerment and social work and is familiar with practice and policy-oriented research aimed at the inclusion of vulnerable groups. Quality of the assistance and services and methodology development from the empowerment perspective are key themes here.