Linking organizational characteristics to psychological empowerment: Contextual issues in empowerment theory

An important contextual issue in empowerment theory is the distinction betw een ecological commonality (i.e., whether and to what extent organizational characteristics are generally important for members' empowerment across di fferent settings) and ecological specificity (i.e., whether and to what ext ent organizational characteristics are uniquely important for members' empo werment within specific settings). This study addressed the issue by assess ing perceived organizational characteristics within three community-based o rganizations, including a service-agency collaborative, an electoral associ ation, and a multi-issue pressure group, and examining relationships with e mpowerment. Results revealed that perceived organizational characteristics combined with dimensions of empowerment to differentiate community-based or ganizations; however, organizational characteristics were not related with empowerment in expected ways across groups. Findings of the study highlight the importance of ecological specificity in empowerment theory. Implicatio ns for social work administration are discussed. (C) 2000 by the Haworth Pr ess, Inc. All rights reserved.