Fabricio E. Balcazar

A contextual-behavioral model of empowerment: case studies involving people with physical disabilities.

When people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, older adults, women, and others lack power, they usually experience adverse conditions disproportionate to other members of society. Emproverment—the process by which people gain some control over valued events, outcomes, and resources—is an important construct for understanding and improving the lives of people of marginal status. This manuscript presents a contextual-behavioral model of empowerment and its application in collaborative research with people with physical disabilities. The eight case studies illustrate 18 tactics for promoting empowerment that flow from the model. The case studies show the use of different combinations of empowerment tactics in a variety of contexts: (a) setting improvement agendas from the perspective of people with disabilities, (b) enforcing ordinances that preserve access to parking spaces designated for people with disabilities, (c) enabling access to homes through housing modifications, (d) enhancing support available through mutual-aid groups, (e) developing skills for recruiting mentors, (f) promoting self-directed behavior hange with personal and health concerns, (g) enhancing skills for personal self-advocacy, and (h) building the capacities of groups of people with disabilities for systems advocacy. Finally, we discuss issues that may contribute to research and action related to empowerment.

Personal self-determination and moderating variables that impact efforts to promote self-determination

The purpose of this second article in the special topic issue from the National Training Initiative on Self-Determination is to provide detail with regard to how we understand the self-determination construct and to discuss moderator variables and how such variables impact the design and implementation of interventions to promote self-determination. Moderator variables are baseline factors that define subgroups with greater versus lesser intervention response. That is, they are factors that need to be taken into account, a priori, when designing interventions so that the intervention might address unique needs or characteristics of the people for whom the intervention is intended.

Cultural competence: Development of a conceptual framework

Purpose. To describe the development of a conceptual framework for cultural competence that could help and guide the training of rehabilitation practitioners, students and researchers. Method. A systematic review of the literature yielded 259 usable documents that were further reviewed by two independent readers to identify 32 publications that described cultural competence conceptual models. Results. After eliminating redundancy, 18 unique cultural competence models were identified. A synthesis model was first developed which included four components. After an empirical validation of the model, a new model with only three components emerged. Conclusion. The empirically validated conceptual framework is a promising tool for training and evaluation of cultural competence.

Empowering Latinos with disabilities to address issues of independent living and disability rights: A capacity-building approach

SUMMARY Latinos with disabilities have historically been underrep-resented in efforts to set the disability agenda and promote disability rights. This manuscript describes a capacity-building approach to community empowerment. Our goal was to empower Latinos with disabilities, increasing their degree of control over services and decisions that directly affect them. The capacity-building approach is grounded in a contextual/behavioral model of empowerment of people with disabilities. This approach emphasizes developing partnerships with local advocacy organizations and encourages active participation of people with disabilities and their families in identifying and addressing their own needs. Such capacity-building includes six major steps: (1) community entry and project planning; (2) identifying community concerns and strengths; (3) community organizing; (4) action planning; (5) monitoring and feedback; and (6) sustaining community organizing efforts. We illustrate the process with an example of an effort to promote compliance with the American with Disabilities Act in the Latino communities of Chicago, which resulted in over 70 actions and 24 outcomes over a period of 10 to 16 months. The capacity-building approach represents a community psychology effort to support ethnic minority individuals with disabilities in their struggle for equality and justice. To date, it has yielded encouraging results. Challenges for implementing this approach to community empowerment are discussed.

From Pathology to Power Rethinking Race, Poverty, and Disability

This paper explores the evolution of ideologies of race, poverty, and disability. Three models, identified as biological, cultural, and minority-group, are discussed. Throughout the twentieth century, biological and cultural models presented images of race, class, and disability in terms of deficiency and dependence. Biological models represented some minority groups as genetically inferior. Cultural models represented low-income minorities as trapped in an inescapable cycle of poverty. Both models represented minorities with disabilities as social victims or social threats or both. In contrast, the minority group model presents social and environmental explanations for continued economic disparity. However, this model does not adequately meet the needs of people of color with disabilities. Typically, disability is not included in theoretical formulations of race and class, whereas disability studies does not sufficiently consider the significance of racial, ethnic, and class differences. This paper presents an empowerment framework for considering the interrelation of race, class, and disability within the minority-group model of disability.

Understanding and Measuring Evaluation Capacity: A Model and Instrument Validation Study.

This study describes the development and validation of the Evaluation Capacity Assessment Instrument (ECAI), a measure designed to assess evaluation capacity among staff of nonprofit organizations that is based on a synthesis model of evaluation capacity. One hundred and sixty-nine staff of nonprofit organizations completed the ECAI. The 68-item measure assessed participants’ perceptions of individual and organizational predictors of two evaluation capacity outcomes: mainstreaming and use of evaluation findings. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and internal consistency results support the inclusion of the items and factors measured by the ECAI. Moreover, structural equation modeling results support the synthesis model and its depiction of relationships among evaluation capacity predictors and outcomes. We discuss the implications of using a validated model and instrument in evaluation capacity building research and practice.

Using the Internet to Conduct Research With Culturally Diverse Populations: Challenges and Opportunities

People from around the globe rely on the Internet for daily use in a variety of ways from downloading information and staying connected with friends and family to collecting data for research purposes. Although the authors have seen rapid growth in access to the Internet among multicultural populations, some groups are still far behind. In particular, those with most limited access include non-English-speakers and low-income and working-class individuals in general. This paper discusses the use of the Internet as a research tool with culturally diverse populations with a focus on two specific purposes: The Internet as a tool to collect information about participants (e.g., survey research, qualitative and descriptive research, and needs assessment); and the Internet as an intervention tool in itself (e.g., intervention research and participatory research). The authors will discuss issues and challenges of using the Internet as a research tool and provide recommendations for using the Internet with culturally diverse populations in a culturally competent manner.

Predicting community- versus facility-based employment for transition-aged young adults with disabilities: The role of race, ethnicity, and support systems

This study examines the effects of socio-economic, attitudinal, and support-related variables on the employment status of young adults with disabilities who participate in community-based and facility-based work settings. It was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,899 young adults with disabilities, ages 18 to 26, from White, Black/African-American, and Latino backgrounds living in the U.S. Secondary analyses of the data showed that race/ethnicity, gender, education, socioeconomic level, perception of disability by respondents and family members, and the availability of formal (e.g., vocational rehabilitation service) and informal supports (e.g., family/friends) are significantly related to community-based employment. The results suggest that non-White young adults with disabilities are less likely to be employed in a community-based setting, compared with their White peers, even after controlling for other variables. The need for more effective policies and programs to support successful transition into community-based employment for members of ethnic and racial population groups is discussed.

Attitudes of American and Israeli Staff Toward People With Intellectual Disabilities

We compared the inclusion-related attitudes of community agency staff in the United States and Israel. Samples of 147 (United States) and 74 (Israel) staff members were assessed with the Community Living Attitudes Scale (CLAS). Results showed that higher educational levels, regardless of nation, were associated with higher Empowerment scores, lower Exclusion scores, lower Sheltering scores, and higher Similarity scores. Empowerment attitudes were strongly related to differences in the agencies in which individuals were employed. Controlling for age, education, and agency, we found that staff in the United States had higher Empowerment scores than did Israeli staff. Israeli staff had higher Sheltering and Similarity scores and marginally higher Exclusion scores than did the United States staff.

A Case Study of Liberation Among Latino Immigrant Families Who Have Children with Disabilities

Latino immigrant families with children with disabilities experience multiple sources of oppression during their settlement process in the United States. Unfair social structures and dominant cultural values and norms and the way they influence the immigrants’ personal life stories generate a cycle of oppression very difficult to break. This paper presents a case study of how a group of Latino parents carried out a process of liberation fueled by the generation of empowering community narratives (critical awareness leading to transformative action) that resulted from a community-university partnership. Participants initiated a process that led them to discover their own stories of oppression and create new stories; to deconstruct the dominant cultural narratives and modify existing ones; and to understand contexts for power sharing. This joint reflection and increased awareness propelled group members to take action by founding a grassroots organization to redress some of the injustices that were partly responsible for their oppression, thus generating shifts at the personal, relational, and collective levels. In light of the theory of liberation, we discuss the participants’ development of critical awareness that led them to take action to address their unmet needs.