ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses that whilst empowerment's use within social work was a very important area to investigate, in many respects this was but one of many areas within which similar strategies emphasising behaviour change for citizens were manifest. Indeed, 'empowerment' as a strategy of intervention is now so embedded within social policy and political discourse that my discussion of how it relates to professional social work forms. The book focuses on at the change in terminology where by the term empowerment emerge as an adjunct to that of power. It draws all the strands of argument together, highlighting both the positive and negative outcomes that strategies of empowerment entail. There is a need to be aware of the ideological assumptions and practical consequences surrounding the discourse of empowerment, and to be alert to both the overt and covert workings of power.
