Empowerment effect of self-help group participation in a Chinese context

Although self-help group participation and its empowerment effect have been widely discussed, very few studies have been conducted in a Chinese context. This paper addresses this important issue in Hong Kong. Delineated into intrapersonal empowerment, interpersonal empowerment and extra-personal empowerment, personal empowerment is viewed as a form of social capital that can be derived from participation in the social relations within the group, and one that can facilitate the obtaining of maximum benefits from the group for the goal of effectively coping with the problems concerned. A path model is constructed to compare the direct effects and indirect effects of participation on personal empowerment, and of participation and personal empowerment on reported extent of benefits obtained. Findings support a somewhat weak relationship between participation and personal empowerment, but a strong relationship between personal empowerment and reported extent of benefits obtained. The implications of the findings for future research on self-group empowerment in Hong Kong and overseas are discussed.