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olomon (1976) introduced the concept of "empowerment" in social work as the process by which people increase power on the personal, interpersonal, political, and economic levels in order to take action to gain more control over the conditions of their lives. Since then, large numbers of theorists have studied the empowerment concept and the phenomena related to it. These researchers have explicated the characteristics defining empowerment, guided by scientific curiosity and their academic disciplines, and articulated the principles guiding social and professional policy on the basis of this approach. They have developed frameworks for designing and applying practice processes, including goals and objectives for consumers (

Youth-led organizing, a burgeoning movement that empowers young people while simultaneously enabling them to make substantive contributions to their communities, is increasingly receiving attention from scholars, activists, and the media. This book studies this dynamic field. It takes an important step toward bridging the gap between academic knowledge and community practice in this growing area. The book’s social justice-rooted perspective on the field’s conceptual and practical foundations is an effective basis for analyzing youth-led community organizing, but it also offers glimpses of successful groups in action and helpful insight into how fledgling organizations can become stronger. These groups and their young participants represent the politics and activism of the future, and the book guides to their key aspects and recent developments.

The term "empowerment" has been conceptualized extensively by theorists. Common literature, however, has largely ignored the consumer's and practitioner's point of view. This study examined how consumers and social workers conceptualize empowerment. To this end, 20 focus groups, 12 of consumers (single parents, teenagers, elderly and activists) and eight of social workers serving each of the four categories of consumers were examined. The findings show that there are important differences in how these groups understand empowerment. Implications for the conceptualization of empowerment, as well as social work education and practice are discussed.

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