Thesis (MA - Sociology) - Victoria University of Wellington, 2005. This thesis uses a feminist sociological perspective to explore the experiences of empowerment for 9 women working in hierarchical-bureaucratic and collectivist-democratic organisations in the fields of domestic violence and sexual assault in New Zealand and the United States. It does not examine domestic violence and sexual assault specifically. Open-ended interview questions were used. The findings indicate that there are specific factors associated with these organisational archetypes which influence experiences of empowerment differently. These specific factors were linked with two common underlying themes of power and accountability. Being in the organisation and support from co-workers were found to contribute to experiences of empowerment. Conflict between individuals, workloads and staffing issues, and remuneration were often experienced as disempowering. These results indicate that there are factors that influence experiences of empowerment common to all organisations within the study. It is therefore important that feminist organisations work to balance autonomy and accountability, and engage in regular dialogue about how well they are empowering the women who work in them. The author suggests that future research should expand beyond focusing on organisational type and instead focus on the practical day-to-day life of organisations and seek to discover what specific factors make an organisation empowering or disempowering.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

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