EMPOWERMENT THEORY FOR REHABILITATION RESEARCH - CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

The rapid paradigmatic shift in rehabilitation to more constituent-dri ven treatment, program planning, and research agendas has led to the p roposal to include empowerment as a critical variable in outcome resea rch (J. D. Banja, 1990; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilit ation Research, 1991). This article describes a conceptual framework f or assessing empowerment at the individual level of analysis, that is, psychological empowerment. The discussion also includes a brief descr iption of empowerment theory in general, including values, processes, and outcomes. Empowerment across levels of analysis is presented to pl ace the construct of psychological empowerment in the larger theoretic al context. Linkages between empowerment theory and the rehabilitation literature are presented.