Organizational empowerment: A framework examining historical and systemic domains in school settings.

Organizational empowerment (OE) is a key construct in community psychology. We build on current understandings of OE by exploring history and systemic relationships as important aspects of OE. We conducted interviews with 20 school leaders from 16 schools that went through a district-wide transition of students with disabilities into general education schools and asked these leaders about their preparation and service provision during this transition. We utilized a grounded theory approach to analyze the data, and two domains of OE emerged: historical and systemic, each with multiple dimensions. The historical domain refers to schools' functioning before the transition, and the systemic domain reflects interactions between schools and the School District Office for Students with Disabilities during the transition. We provide a nuanced understanding of these domains of organizational empowerment and their interaction, as well as implications for empowerment theory and practice.

Developing and testing the College Student Empowerment Scales for Racial/Ethnic Minorities.

Empowerment is defined as a process by which marginalized groups gain mastery over issues of concern to them. One such population is racial and ethnic minority college students. These students experience academic disparities while simultaneously relying on higher education to facilitate more equitable social outcomes for themselves and ultimately to strengthen U.S. society for all. Nonetheless, nearly four decades after Rappaport's introduction of the empowerment construct, we still have no core constructs or measure of them for understanding and assessing the empowerment of underrepresented students on college campuses. As an initial step to understand and evaluate empowerment for this important population, this study drew from previous qualitative research to create and field-test a quantitative measure with racial/ethnic minority college students. Exploratory factor analyses in independent samples identified 4 factors of empowerment: Self-Efficacy/Control, University Environment, Financial Confidence, and Student Racial/Ethnic Identity. Confirmatory factor analyses illustrated relationships between factors. Findings revealed that the measure, the College Student Empowerment Scales for Racial/Ethnic Minorities (CSES), is valid and reliable. Results emphasize internalized influences on psychological empowerment through an individual's identity within empowering university and societal contexts. Future directions are discussed, including research using this measure and opportunities for intervention in universities.

Social inequality within the IEP meeting: Three factors that disempower students.

How do stakeholder power dynamics promote social inequalities and impede empowerment of students with disabilities in the individualized education program (IEP) process? This conceptual case study explores the role of critical discourse in reducing social inequality in the IEP process for students with disabilities in two special education day schools within a metropolitan school district. The lead author's observations and field notes describe three influential stakeholder tensions over an 11-month period in two schools for children with disabilities. Sociopolitical history, or the historical context of the public school system within the metropolitan district, provides the overarching temporal ecology for all examples of stakeholder tensions. Individual stakeholder perceptions of private vs. public schools and the role of separate schools are the second and third tensions that influence student participation in the setting. Implications for increasing critical discourse in order to adequately empower students with disabilities in the IEP process are considered.

Creating community life among immigrant survivors of torture and their allies.

This qualitative study describes how immigrant survivors of torture in the United States built relationships among each other to form a psychological sense of community. Eight men and seven women from 11 different countries were recruited through a torture treatment center and a survivor-led advocacy and support coalition. This qualitative study explored how participants described their experiences of community life. An advisory group that included torture survivors, torture treatment practitioners, abolition advocates and academic experts guided the study. Data was analyzed using inductive and phenomenological theories. The construct of psychological sense of community articulated by McMillan and Chavis1 provided the conceptual framework for the evaluation of how a psychological sense of community was developed. Torture survivors with their allies formed community boundaries based on a deep understanding of the impact of torture. The safety afforded through the community boundaries was reinforced by shared condemnation of torture in all circumstances. Within the security of the community's boundaries, members shared their experiences to enable their own and others' recovery from torture. As community members exchanged advice and support, survivors met one another's needs, providing physical and emotional relief from the effects of their torture. As individuals and a community, they influenced each other's identities as survivors rather than victims. Advocating for those who remained vulnerable to torture was important to their identification as survivors. Through these exchanges, community members influenced one another and developed trusting relationships and emotional bonds. This study illuminates how community life enabled survivors to contribute to, and benefit from, each other's journeys.

"There's Gotta be Some Give and Take": Community Partner Perspectives on Benefits and Contributions associated with Community Partnerships for Youth.

Successful community partnerships for youth are based on the premise that reciprocity exists between all parties, but to what extent is equal power actually present? The current investigation examines the benefits and contributions associated with partnerships from community partners' perspectives. Respondents from 15 different Connect to Protect® coalitions initiated by the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions were interviewed at the onset of their partnerships. Community partners asserted that their contributions to partnerships are more varied than researchers', yet they perceived that researchers acquire more kinds of benefits. Findings indicate nuances regarding reciprocity and power inequities between partners. Community partners' insights have implications for defining best practices within partnerships that benefit youth.

Empowered and disempowered voices of low-income people with disabilities on the initiation of government-funded, managed health care

The health and healthcare of vulnerable populations is an international concern. In 2011, a Midwestern state within the U.S. mandatorily transitioned 38,000 Medicaid recipients from a fee-for-service system into a managed care program in which managed care companies were contracted to provide recipients’ healthcare for a capitated rate. In addition to cost savings through reductions in preventable and unnecessary hospital admissions, the goals of the managed care program (MCP) included: (1) access to a more functional support system, which can support high and medium risk users in the development of care plans and coordination of care, and (2) choice among competent providers. The population transitioned was a high-need, high-cost, low-income, and low-power group of individuals. The evaluation research team used focus groups as one of many strategies to understand the experience of users during the first two years of this complex change effort. The article explores empowerment in terms of users and their family caregivers’ ability to make meaningful choices and access resources with regard to their healthcare. Specifically, factors empowering and disempowering users were identified within three thematic areas: (1) enrollment experiences, (2) access to care and (3) communication with managed care organizations and providers. While the change was not optional for users, a disempowering feature, there remained opportunities for other empowering and disempowering processes and outcomes through the transition and new managed care program. The results are from 74 participants: 65 users and 9 family caregivers in 11 focus groups and six interviews across two waves of data collection. MCP users felt disempowered by an initial lack of providers, difficulty with transportation to appointments, and challenges obtaining adequate medication. They felt empowered by having a choice of providers, good quality of transportation services and clear communication from providers and managed care organizations. Recommendations for increasing prospects for the empowerment of healthcare users with disabilities within a managed care environment are presented

La salud y su atención en poblaciones vulnerables preocupa internacionalmente. Un Estado del medio-oes te estadounidense en 2011 traspasó obligatoriamente a 38.000 receptores de Medicaid de un sistema de pago por servicio a un programa de asistencia gestionada en el que se contrataba a empresas de asistencia gestionada para la prestación de asistencia sanitaria a los usuarios por una cuota por persona. Además de los ahorros por la disminución de admisiones hospitalarias evitables e innecesarias, los objetivos del pro grama gestionado de asistencia incluían: (1) el acceso a un sistema de apoyo más funcional para usuarios de un riesgo elevado y medio en el desarrollo de planes de asistencia y coordinación de la misma y (2) la elección entre proveedores competentes. La población a la que afecta este traspaso era un grupo de personas muy necesitadas, que entrañaban costes elevados, con un nivel bajo de ingresos y de poder. El equipo investigador de evaluación utilizó grupos de discusión como una de las muchas estrategias para entender la experiencia de los usuarios durante los dos primeros años de este esfuerzo complejo de cambio. El artículo explora el "empowerment" en cuanto a los usuarios y a la capacidad de quienes prestan asistencia a su familia de tomar las decisiones oportunas y acceder a los recursos relativos la prestación de asistencia sanitaria.En concreto, los factores que reforzarían o debilitarían a los usuarios pueden pertenecer a tres áreastemáticas: (1) experiencias de enrolamiento, (2) acceso a la asistencia y (3) la comunicación con las organizacionescon quienes proporcionan asistencia sanitaria gestionada. A pesar de que el cambio no era optativopara los usuarios, un aspecto negativo, aún quedaba margen para otros procesos de capacitación, incapacitación y resultados gracias a la transición y al nuevo programa gestionado de asistencia. Se dispone de resultadosde 74 participantes, 65 usuarios y 9 personas que prestan asistencia a la familia en 11 grupos dediscusión, con 6 entrevistas en dos tandas de recogida de datos. Los usuarios del programa gestionado deasistencia sintieron desvalimiento por la falta inicial de proveedores, los problemas de transporte a las citasy para conseguir la medicación adecuada. En cambio se sintieron reforzados por el hecho de tener unagama de proveedores, una buena calidad de servicios de transporte y comunicación clara por parte de los proveedores y de las organizaciones de asistencia gestionada. Se ofrecen recomendaciones para mejorar las perspectivas de reforzamiento (empowerment) de los usuarios de asistencia sanitaria con discapacidades en un entorno de prestación gestionada de asistencia

Two ecological models of academic achievement among diverse students with and without disabilities in transition.

School experiences can have positive effects on student academic achievement, yet less is known about intermediary processes that contribute to these positive effects. We examined pathways between school experiences and academic achievement among 117 low-income urban students of color, many with disabilities, who transitioned to other schools following a school closure. Using structural equation modeling, we tested two ecological models that examined the relationships among self-reported school experiences, school support, academic self-efficacy, and school-reported academic achievement. The model in which the relationship between school experiences and academic achievement is mediated by both school support and academic self-efficacy, and that takes previous academic achievement into account, was an excellent fit with the data. The roles of contextual and individual factors as they relate to academic achievement, and the implications of these findings, are discussed.

Student-teacher relationships matter for school inclusion: school belonging, disability, and school transitions.

For students with disabilities, the process of school inclusion often begins with a move from segregated settings into general education classrooms. School transitions can be stressful as students adjust to a new environment. This study examines the adjustment of 133 students with and without disabilities who moved from a school that served primarily students with disabilities into 23 public schools in a large urban school district in the Midwest. These students and 111 of their teachers and other school staff rated the degree that students felt they belonged in their new schools and the quality of their social interactions. Results show that students who experienced more positive and fewer negative social interactions with school staff had higher school belonging. Teachers accurately noted whether students felt they belonged in their new settings, but were not consistently able to identify student perceptions of negative social interactions with staff. Implications for inclusion and improving our educational system are explored.

Transportation challenges for urban students with disabilities: parent perspectives.

This qualitative study explored parent perspectives of the transportation difficulties students with disabilities experienced getting to and around school. Participants were parents of predominantly African American and Latino/a high school youth with disabilities from low income neighborhoods. Content analysis of 14 meetings with 5 to 12 parents sponsored by the school district revealed five primary themes concerning transportation: the role of aides, exclusion from school programming, scheduling problems, equipment problems, and physical safety issues. Findings are discussed in regard to students' social and emotional experiences at school. Implications for school policy include improving the integration of transportation within inclusion best practice models. Incorporating parent perspectives can help school administrators and staff enrich the quality of inclusive, socially just education for students with disabilities.

Transportation and socioemotional well-being of urban students with and without disabilities.

This study explored the extent to which transportation difficulties were associated with social, psychological, and academic experiences of urban, at-risk students who recently experienced a school transition. Participants included 165 predominantly African American and Latino/a high school youth with and without disabilities, a critical population for community psychology to address given their likelihood of multiple marginalizations. Results suggested transportation problems within school predicted more school stressors and aggressive behavior. Transportation problems to and from school predicted fewer school resources, less school belonging, and more school stressors, anxiety, and depression. Greater time to get to school predicted fewer school resources, less school belonging, and more depressive symptoms. This study demonstrates the importance of including transportation in how the school day is conceptualized, and offers several implications for how transportation services can be best addressed.

School problems and solutions for students with disabilities: a qualitative examination.

The inclusion of students with disabilities is a process that requires collaboration among multiple individuals, with teachers, aides, parents, students, and school systems playing important roles in resolving student problems. In the current study, we examined data from 75 teachers concerning 126 students about problems that students with disabilities had following a transition from a school primarily serving students with disabilities to more inclusive schools. Reported problems were reviewed and five major themes emerged: academic, behavioral, mobility/accessibility, social, and transportation issues. Teachers typically resolved academic problems by working directly with the student or collaborating with school staff. Social problems were resolved through student and teacher initiatives. Behavioral, transportation, and mobility/accessibility problems were resolved through collaboration among many key school figures and family members. Implications for theory, research, and inclusive school practices related to academic curricula, resources, services, and architectural accommodations for students with disabilities are discussed.

Collaborative teaching: school implementation and connections with outcomes among students with disabilities.

Collaborative teaching is a widely used method of including and supporting students with disabilities to provide all students equal access to education. Yet, there is a dearth of research on its implementation and outcomes, and the few existing studies are limited to academic and testing outcomes. This study assesses the degree to which schools are implementing co-teaching practices and the relation between co-teaching and student psychosocial outcomes using a mixed method design. Data from 12 schools, which included 16 school leaders and staff, 13 teachers, and 56 students with disabilities, were examined. Schools achieved 0-75% of the co-teaching best-practices criteria, with the majority achieving 25%-50% of the criteria. Higher levels of teacher-reported co-teaching were related to higher levels of student-reported school belonging, school satisfaction, and self-efficacy for new experiences. The benefits and challenges of co-teaching, as well as implications for intervention and research are addressed.

Pretrauma risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review of the literature.

As it has become clear that most individuals exposed to trauma do not develop PTSD, it has become increasingly important to examine pretrauma risk factors. However, PTSD research has overwhelmingly relied on retrospective accounts of trauma, which is beleaguered by problems of recall bias. To further our understanding of PTSD's etiology, a systematic review of 54 prospective, longitudinal studies of PTSD published between 1991 and 2013 were examined. Inclusion criteria required that all individuals were assessed both before and after an index trauma. Results revealed six categories of pretrauma predictor variables: 1) cognitive abilities; 2) coping and response styles; 3) personality factors; 4) psychopathology; 5) psychophysiological factors; and 6) social ecological factors. The results indicated that many variables, previously considered outcomes of trauma, are pretrauma risk factors. The review considered these findings in the context of the extant retrospective PTSD literature in order to identify points of overlap and discrepancy. Pretrauma predictor categories were also used to conceptualize variable risk for PTSD. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Attitudes of Pakistani community members and staff toward people with intellectual disability.

The acceptance and inclusion of persons with intellectual disability can vary across cultures, and understanding attitudes can provide insight into such variation. To our knowledge, no previous study has explored attitudes toward people with intellectual disability among Pakistani community members and disability service providers. We administered the Community Living Attitudes Scale (Henry et al., 1996), a measure of attitudes toward people with intellectual disability developed in the United States, to 262 community members and 190 disability service providers in Pakistan. Confirmatory factor analysis found a 4-factor solution (empowerment, similarity, exclusion, and sheltering) fit the Pakistani sample. More positive attitudes were observed in staff serving people with intellectual disability, females, Christians, Hindus, Sunnis, and people with greater education. We discuss implications for research, theory, and practice.

Factors of empowerment for women in recovery from substance use.

Empowerment is an interdisciplinary construct heavily grounded in the theories of community psychology. Although empowerment has a strong theoretical foundation, few context-specific quantitative measures have been designed to evaluate empowerment for specific populations. The present study explored the factor structure of a modified empowerment scale with a cross-sectional sample of 296 women in recovery from substance use who lived in recovery homes located throughout the United States. Results from an exploratory factor analysis identified three factors of psychological empowerment which were closely related to previous conceptualizations of psychological empowerment: self-perception, resource knowledge and participation. Further analyses demonstrated a hierarchical relationship among the three factors, with resource knowledge predicting participation when controlling for self-perception. Finally, a correlational analysis demonstrated the initial construct validity of each factor, as each factor of empowerment was significantly and positively related to self-esteem. Implications for the application of psychological empowerment theory and research are discussed.

A case study of liberation among Latino immigrant families who have children with disabilities.

Latino immigrant families with children with disabilities experience multiple sources of oppression during their settlement process in the United States. Unfair social structures and dominant cultural values and norms and the way they influence the immigrants' personal life stories generate a cycle of oppression very difficult to break. This paper presents a case study of how a group of Latino parents carried out a process of liberation fueled by the generation of empowering community narratives (critical awareness leading to transformative action) that resulted from a community-university partnership. Participants initiated a process that led them to discover their own stories of oppression and create new stories; to deconstruct the dominant cultural narratives and modify existing ones; and to understand contexts for power sharing. This joint reflection and increased awareness propelled group members to take action by founding a grassroots organization to redress some of the injustices that were partly responsible for their oppression, thus generating shifts at the personal, relational, and collective levels. In light of the theory of liberation, we discuss the participants' development of critical awareness that led them to take action to address their unmet needs.

Project Shake-It-Up: using health promotion, capacity building and a disability studies framework to increase self efficacy.

PURPOSE: Project Shake-It-Up provided a health promotion and capacity building program for individuals with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and related neurological impairments. Major research aims were to evaluate changes in participants' self-efficacy, ability to set/achieve goals, and perceived independent-living status. METHODS: Participants completed self-efficacy measures at baseline, program completion, 6- and 12-month follow-up, and set health and/or independent living goals. Progress toward goal attainment was monitored periodically and assessed qualitatively. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the change in self-efficacy scores for intervention participants compared to non-participants. Participants gained independent-living skills and confidence in their abilities to set and achieve a variety of goals, in the areas of education, employment, housing, transportation, accessing community resources and activities, participation in sports and leisure, and health promotion. CONCLUSIONS: Researchers evaluated results using a disability studies framework of empowerment which recognizes the role of environment, gender, race/ethnicity, and social status in the experience of disability. Participants reported increased independence, community access, and participation. They took action in multiple arenas with changes observed and reported in areas of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and behavioral functioning that indicated greater personal empowerment.

How the powerful decide: access to research participation by those at the margins.

How do those in power decide to include and exclude those at the margins from community life? We used simulated review of research vignettes to examine how researchers and members of Institutional Review Boards make decisions concerning the research participation of adults with and without intellectual disabilities. Results indicate that decision-makers are influenced by the disability status of the sample, characteristics of the research in which they are engaged, and their attitudes toward the research participation of adults with intellectual disabilities as well as their own relationship to the research process. For example, decision-makers may create situations that limit the self-determination of adults with intellectual disabilities and adults without disabilities within the research context, particularly when the research poses some risk of harm to participants. Implications for theory, action and research are explored.

Gatekeepers of science: attitudes toward the research participation of adults with intellectual disability.

Researchers and Institutional Review Board (IRB) members' attitudes influence scientific knowledge about individuals with intellectual disability. We recruited 260 intellectual disability researchers and IRB members to develop a measure of attitudes toward the research participation of adults with intellectual disability, the Participation in Research Attitude Scale. Findings suggest three conceptual domains: Opportunity and Choice, Help in Decision Making, and Beneficence. We also examined individual differences in attitudes and the relationships between general and specific attitudes. In general, intellectual disability researchers and those with closer relationships to individuals with disabilities had attitudes consistent with disability-rights principles. Some dimensions of global attitudes toward adults with intellectual disability predictedmore specific attitudes toward their research participation. Implications are discussed.