Diverse Views of Political Empowerment Among Community College Students Who Receive Food Assistance Benefits

This article examines political empowerment related to voting. The profession of social work requires practitioners to consider the social political roots of problems and to work to remediate them through micro and macro interventions, informed by political empowerment. Political empowerment involve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of policy practice and research (Online) 2021-12, Vol.2 (4), p.238-257
Main Authors: Sandler, Adelaide K., Lane, Shannon R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Americans
College students
Community and Environmental Psychology
Conceptual Paper
Consciousness
Court decisions
Empowerment
Food
Gender
Group identity
Intervention
Political power
Political systems
Public assistance programs
Race
Racism
Self-efficacy
Social Policy
Social Sciences
Social Work
Stigma
Success
Voter behavior
Voting
Welfare
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Summary:This article examines political empowerment related to voting. The profession of social work requires practitioners to consider the social political roots of problems and to work to remediate them through micro and macro interventions, informed by political empowerment. Political empowerment involves having the power, ability, critical awareness, and sense of group identity to take action in order to create change in a political system. Findings from a qualitative study are presented to explore how recipients of food assistance benefits, enrolled in community college make decisions about voting. Data collected provides rich and contextual insight into how the decision to vote or not vote corresponds with an academic understanding of political empowerment and suggests that choosing not to vote may represent a type of political empowerment. Social work interventions related to voting for this population could include reducing stigma around government assistance, voter engagement, and work with systems to recognize the political power of those who are often left out of the process.
ISSN:2662-1517
2662-1517
DOI:10.1007/s42972-021-00034-1