Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals
Empowerment has been labeled an important route to psychological wellness for the field of Community Psychology (Cowen, 2000). Yet, little research has examined the extent to which Aboriginal people, arguably the most marginalized group in Canada (Waldram, Herring, & Young, 1995; York, 1990), wo...
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ftunivmanitoba:oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/3817 2023-08-27T04:09:29+02:00 Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals Ritchot, Kathryn F. M. 2004 262 leaves : 12655052 bytes application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1993/3817 eng eng ocm00011293 http://hdl.handle.net/1993/3817 open access The reproduction of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner. doctoral thesis 2004 ftunivmanitoba 2023-08-06T17:37:24Z Empowerment has been labeled an important route to psychological wellness for the field of Community Psychology (Cowen, 2000). Yet, little research has examined the extent to which Aboriginal people, arguably the most marginalized group in Canada (Waldram, Herring, & Young, 1995; York, 1990), would find empowerment as it is commonly understood to be meaningful. The purpose of this research was to generate an understanding of the meaning, processes, and outcomes of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine Metis and First Nations women, resulting in 394 pages of transcripts. The data were generated and analyzed according to grounded theory method (Glaser, 1992; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The results showed that the research participants struggled with the basic psychosocial problem of powerlessness, which took different forms for each research participant. Notably, all research participants had felt the burn of racism and discrimination, and many had suffered other forms of abuse. Nonetheless, they had managed to overcome these and other obstacles to become leaders and professionals. A model, Becoming Whole, was developed which outlines the processes and outcomes grounded in the research participants' experiences of empowerment. It has three main parts: 'The core concepts' and two subprocesses, 'Healing within the community' and 'Healing within the Self'. Empowerment was defined by research participants in a manner consistent with current theoretical perspectives (Rappaport, 1981, 1987; Zimmerman, 1995; 2000) and with themes developed from the model. Overall, research pafticipants believed that empowerment was meaningful in their lives. Empowerment as experienced by the Aboriginal women leaders and professionals was similar but not identical to empowerment experienced in other groups (Kar, Pascual, & Chickering; 1999; Kieffer, 1984; O'Sullivan, Waugh, and Espeland; 1984; Shields, 1995) and was consistent with ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis First Nations Metis MSpace at the University of Manitoba Canada O'Sullivan ENVELOPE(-62.152,-62.152,-71.433,-71.433) Strauss ENVELOPE(-73.182,-73.182,-71.649,-71.649) Waugh ENVELOPE(-64.111,-64.111,-65.522,-65.522) Zimmerman ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-73.300,-73.300) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MSpace at the University of Manitoba |
op_collection_id |
ftunivmanitoba |
language |
English |
description |
Empowerment has been labeled an important route to psychological wellness for the field of Community Psychology (Cowen, 2000). Yet, little research has examined the extent to which Aboriginal people, arguably the most marginalized group in Canada (Waldram, Herring, & Young, 1995; York, 1990), would find empowerment as it is commonly understood to be meaningful. The purpose of this research was to generate an understanding of the meaning, processes, and outcomes of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine Metis and First Nations women, resulting in 394 pages of transcripts. The data were generated and analyzed according to grounded theory method (Glaser, 1992; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The results showed that the research participants struggled with the basic psychosocial problem of powerlessness, which took different forms for each research participant. Notably, all research participants had felt the burn of racism and discrimination, and many had suffered other forms of abuse. Nonetheless, they had managed to overcome these and other obstacles to become leaders and professionals. A model, Becoming Whole, was developed which outlines the processes and outcomes grounded in the research participants' experiences of empowerment. It has three main parts: 'The core concepts' and two subprocesses, 'Healing within the community' and 'Healing within the Self'. Empowerment was defined by research participants in a manner consistent with current theoretical perspectives (Rappaport, 1981, 1987; Zimmerman, 1995; 2000) and with themes developed from the model. Overall, research pafticipants believed that empowerment was meaningful in their lives. Empowerment as experienced by the Aboriginal women leaders and professionals was similar but not identical to empowerment experienced in other groups (Kar, Pascual, & Chickering; 1999; Kieffer, 1984; O'Sullivan, Waugh, and Espeland; 1984; Shields, 1995) and was consistent with ... |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Ritchot, Kathryn F. M. |
spellingShingle |
Ritchot, Kathryn F. M. Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
author_facet |
Ritchot, Kathryn F. M. |
author_sort |
Ritchot, Kathryn F. M. |
title |
Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
title_short |
Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
title_full |
Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
title_fullStr |
Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Becoming Whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in Aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
title_sort |
becoming whole : a grounded theory analysis of empowerment in aboriginal women leaders and professionals |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1993/3817 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.152,-62.152,-71.433,-71.433) ENVELOPE(-73.182,-73.182,-71.649,-71.649) ENVELOPE(-64.111,-64.111,-65.522,-65.522) ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-73.300,-73.300) |
geographic |
Canada O'Sullivan Strauss Waugh Zimmerman |
geographic_facet |
Canada O'Sullivan Strauss Waugh Zimmerman |
genre |
First Nations Metis |
genre_facet |
First Nations Metis |
op_relation |
ocm00011293 http://hdl.handle.net/1993/3817 |
op_rights |
open access The reproduction of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner. |
_version_ |
1775350885545672704 |