Managing Change: Psychosocial Issues for Women

Changes in the environment can threaten human survival. Adapting to changing times has become a major issue in the late 20th century because of the drastic and frequent alterations in human life styles. Managing change in the environment depends on developing an awareness of the contextual issues that support or threaten human existence. This paper reviews the experience of a young mother who was isolated from other mothers by the urban setting in which she lived. She was able to organize a child-care cooperative, a "village" to raise the children. Through the cooperative she not only overcame her own feelings of anger and isolation, but also created a wholesome setting that supported the growth of her whole family. Such strategies of "empowered collaboration" have great potential for women around the world who need to modify the environment in order to live better lives.