Social Psychological Determinants of Empowerment and Identity Status of Women

INTRODUCTION: Women - the half of the world’s population - play an important role along with men in creating a better life of family. The status of women in a society is the true index of its cultural, social, religious and spiritual levels. It is one of the most important criteria for estimating with precision the degree of civilization attained by a particular society. As women become empowered they become change agents who influence decisions and actions, which affect organisations, institutions and communities. But after six and half decades of our independence, there is continued inequality and vulnerability of women in all sectors - economic, social, political education, healthcare, nutrition and legal. As women are oppressed in all spheres of life, they need to be empowered in all walks of life. The increasing level of gang-rapes in society has raised a new question of men-domination and cruelty with women and girls child. The novel laureate Amartya Sen has emphasized, ―Indeed the empowerments of women is one of the central issues in the process of development for many countries in the world today.‖ Actually, empowerment is the process by which the powerless gain greater control over the circumstances of their lives. It includes both,