Potential for Change An examination of Assertiveness Training with Severely Socially Disadvantaged Women Available to Purchase

Assertiveness Training (AT) can be a means of developing a perceptual framework in which it is possible to analyse specific situations which have resulted in women feeling confused, frustrated and diminished. The focus and aim of AT is to engage in practising behavioural strategies which question and challenge the cultural roles and gender expectations which relegate women to an inferior status in society. It usually involves group members in identifying areas of common concern and then agreeing a programme of structural exercises. These enable the exploration of stressful situations and alternative ways of handling them. A course run for eight women on a council estate who have experienced negative labelling by virtue of their social circumstances is described.