Family Preservation Practice refers to the provision of social work services toward the goal of keeping families together and is most often used in cases involving concern over the welfare of children (Peterson, Kohrt, Shadoin & Authier, 1996). Several different values constitute the conceptual foundation of family preservation practice (Berry, 1992). One of these values is empowerment. The purpose of the review of literature presented here is to examine several publications in which the value of empowerment of families is particularly salient. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the relatedness of the value of empowerment to other values underlying family preservation practice.
Family Preservation Practice and Empowerment
Research on Empowerment in Family Preservation Practice
MacEachron, Gustavsson, Cross and Lewis (1996) discussed family preservation practice and empowerment as it relates to the effectiveness of the Indian Welfare Act of 1978. The term "empowerment" was conceptually defined by the authors as the ability of the tribe to self-determine their own welfare policies and practices. It was noted that the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) extended tribal self-determination policy to include child welfare and family preservation issues, the Act being a response to the large numbers of Indian children removed from their families and placed in non-Indian settings.
Of interest to MacEachron, Gustavsson, Cross and Lewis (1996) was determining whether the Act was actually effective in terms of expanding tribal self-determination toward the goal of family preservation. Evaluative data was obtained from: (1) surveys conducted by the Association on American Indian Affairs through 1975; (2) 1988 reports by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and; (3) the 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses.
With some caution, MacEachron, Gustavsson, Cross and Lewis (1996) concluded that their findings indicated support fo...