Empowering Single Mothers in Iran: Applying a Problem-Solving Model in Learning Groups to Develop Participants’ Capacity to Improve Their Lives

Since 2000, a problem-solving model has been taught to the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child, and teachers and students of social work, in two universities in Iran. Since 2006, with the initiation of UNICEF, social workers, psychologists and even some psychiatrists in Iran have been learning this model. In 2008, a group of researchers created an empowerment-oriented psychosocial group and private intervention project to assess if a group of Iranian single mothers could use this model, which was traditionally used by professionals only, to effectively and independently meet challenges in their own lives. Our results show that all women used the model effectively, and consequently, made more deliberate decisions to improve their life situations. Some of the women succeeded in finding a job and many improved their family relationships. This study suggests that empowerment-oriented social work can help many clients to achieve their goals, and that this psychosocial intervention project can be a useful model for social work in Iran and many other societies.