Gibson C H
Faculty of Nursing, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.
J Adv Nurs. 1995 Jun;21(6):1201-10. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1995.21061201.x.
As a result of advances in scientific knowledge and technology, the number of children living with chronic illness is ever increasing. The burden of responsibility for the care of these children falls increasingly on the involved parents and, particularly, on mothers. In spite of the challenges that chronic childhood illness presents, many families are able to adapt to their situation and develop a sense of control over their lives. A sense of control has been associated with the notion of empowerment. Following a theoretical analysis, empowerment was conceptualized as a social process of recognizing, promoting and enhancing people's abilities to meet their own needs, solve their own problems, and mobilize the necessary resources in order to feel in control of their own lives. To understand the concept of empowerment from an empirical perspective, a fieldwork study was undertaken to describe the process of empowerment as it pertains to mothers of chronically ill children. This paper presents the process of empowerment that occurred in these mothers. Four components of the process of empowerment emerged: discovering reality, critical reflection, taking charge, and holding on. As a result of the study, empowerment was reconceptualized as largely a personal process in which individuals developed and employed the necessary knowledge, competence and confidence for making their voices heard. Participatory competence--the ability to be heard by those in power--was the outcome of this process. Although the unique finding in this study suggests that the process of empowerment was largely intrapersonal, there was a relational element in the process. Clearly, the intrapersonal and interpersonal processes of empowerment are intertwined.
由于科学知识和技术的进步，患有慢性病的儿童数量不断增加。照顾这些孩子的责任越来越多地落在相关父母身上，尤其是母亲身上。尽管儿童慢性病带来了诸多挑战，但许多家庭能够适应自身状况，并培养出对生活的掌控感。掌控感与赋权的概念相关联。经过理论分析，赋权被概念化为一个社会过程，即认识、促进和增强人们满足自身需求、解决自身问题以及调动必要资源以掌控自己生活的能力。为了从实证角度理解赋权的概念，开展了一项实地研究，以描述与慢性病患儿母亲相关的赋权过程。本文呈现了这些母亲身上发生的赋权过程。赋权过程出现了四个组成部分：发现现实、批判性反思、负责和坚持。研究结果表明，赋权在很大程度上被重新概念化为一个个人过程，在这个过程中，个体发展并运用必要的知识、能力和信心来让自己的声音被听到。参与能力——被有权势者倾听的能力——是这个过程的结果。尽管本研究的独特发现表明赋权过程在很大程度上是个人内在的，但这个过程中存在一个关系要素。显然，赋权的个人内在过程和人际过程是相互交织的。
