Organizing Self-Help Groups for Empowerment and Social Change

Abstract

Empirical research has shown that self-help groups are not purely about individual change and intra-personal empowerment, but also about policy change and collective empowerment. In North America and Europe, such groups have been in the forefront of social change, and self-help represents a new political potential. However, findings of this study of self-help groups in Hong Kong indicate that social change has never been their common objective. In addition, members of the Hong Kong groups feel unable to impact social policies that affect their lives, despite wanting to do so. It is contended in this paper that this feeling of powerlessness among members might be related to the nature, size and length of existence of the self-help groups. It is further argued that self-help groups should form coalitions and seek professional assistance in order to effect social change and to strengthen and broaden their power base.

Key Words:

• Self-help group
• social change
• empowerment
• community practice