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their consciousness has been raised, they are then able to work with similar
others to challenge oppressive systems and bring about change. An example
might be a situation in which the working poor create a support network and
actively lobby their local legislative representative for improved wages and
cheaper health services. Lobbying may occur through street protest, petitions,
boycotts, or demonstrations at representatives’ offices. Interventive action
using this theory is deliberative, radical, collective, and anti-oppressive.
Advocacy, Empowerment, and Self-Determination
Advocacy, empowerment, and self-determination enable people to create
their own communities, make connections, and address problems (Hiebert
and Swan 1999). They enable inclusion and agency of people who have been
on society’s margins, socially excluded from institutions, opportunities, and
resources (Redmond 2008). Employing this kind of intervention in the human
services requires the worker to give up control and to advocate for and support
the capacity of citizens to do the work themselves, as participants rather than as
clients (Hiebert and Swan 1999). As can be seen in previous chapters (chapters
2 and 3), empowerment and advocacy allow “people to overcome barriers in
achieving life objectives” (Payne 2005, 295). Empowerment enables people
to define their own needs and to arrange or even create their own care services
(Lewis 2013). Indigenous frameworks (see chapter 6) use a self-deterministic
strategy whereby different people groups are free to create new narratives, using
their own cultures, protocols, language, and concepts to tackle social problems.
Applying the Theoretical Framework to Family PovertyWe can apply Shannon and Young’s (2004) adapted framework to the
problem of family poverty, applying explanatory and interventive theories at
both the social/structural and the personal levels.
Social/Structural Level Explanatory and Interventive Theories
According to the liberal/neoliberal explanatory theory, family poverty can
be explained by the inability of people to make the right choices that will
enable them to gain good qualifications and well-paid jobs. The market treats
everyone the same, so it is up to individuals to make the most of market-based
opportunities. If they end up in poverty, it might be viewed as their fault;
governments will, however, provide a minimal safety net to keep people from
absolute poverty. The government role is to be hands off, leaving the markets
to their influence and leaving people to make their own choices, good or bad.