Action Research in School Setting To Help Increase Community Empowerment

The current Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study uses a mixed-methods approach to examine how action plans develop in community groups. Specifically, this study analyzes how collaboration with a group of parents can facilitate community involvement and increase a sense of psychological empowerment among parents. This project is an extension of previous work conducted with a smaller core group of the current participants. Psychological empowerment is defined as a personal belief in one’s ability to make a significant change in one’s own life. Evidence has suggested that when working collaboratively with a group of community members in a fashion consistent with a CBPR paradigm, these community members are more likely to develop action plans that effectively address health and educational disparities in their community. It was hypothesized that a sense of psychological empowerment would increase as a function of project participation. It was also hypothesized that qualitative analysis of meeting transcripts would yield themes of empowerment, hope and agency. Participants in our focus groups (n=20) consisted of parents from families that are likely to feel marginalized in their community due to lower socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnic minority group membership. Prior to group participation, participants completed a revised version of the Psychological Empowerment Scale. Participants then engaged in an ongoing discussion of community concerns and collaboratively developed actions plans to implement change and voice concerns to local policy makers over the course of three months of regular meetings. Following this period, participants completed the revised Psychological Empowerment Scale. Paired t-test analysis revealed partial support of the hypothesis at the subscale level. Thematic analysis of transcripts revealed enduring concerns related to helplessness and a need for assistance and resources. However, there was also evidence of a growing sense of hope and newfound competency. This project closely examined CBPR and action research with parents from a marginalized community in order to develop action plans within a community. In conclusion, the findings suggest that project participation increased psychological empowerment and yielded themes of empowerment, hope and agency. This project suggests that a similar process can be used to promote social change for addressing health, safety, and educational disparities and in the process, help community members develop a stronger sense of psychological and community empowerment