Tomofumi Oka

The Diversity of Indigenous Wisdom on Grief: Exploring Social Work Approaches to Bereavement (Tomofumi Oka, Nur Atikah Mohamed Hussin, & Anneli Silvén Hagström, 2017). The IAFOR International Conference on the Social Sciences – Hawaii 2017 Official Conference Proceedings, pp. 53-65.

This chapter explores a type of formal volunteering, carried out in groups, by peers who share a problematic health, economic, or social condition or situation. Peers meet together in self-help/mutual aid groups (SH/MAGs) to alleviate or improve their own circumstances. Of particular importance are the reciprocal social relationships in these groups — active participants both give and receive support. The chapter traces the broad history of SH/MAGs, reflecting similarities and differences in the co-authors’ regions of the world. The benefits that accrue to people active in SH/MAGs are highlighted at a personal, collective, and community level. The authors explore how self-help/mutual aid is enabled, given the challenges currently facing this form of volunteering, including global economic austerity and the dominance of professional and paternalistic modes of help.

ABSTRACT: Stigma associated with alcoholism is common in Japan, and individuals who suffer from alcoholism often feel that it is a taboo to discuss their problems with alcohol in the general public. This paper describes the way in which the self-help group called Danshukai offers a model for recovery for people suffering from alcoholism in Japan. Since 2006, the authors have been involved in various meetings and conducted conversational and semi-structured interviews with leaders and rank-and-file members of Danshukai. In Danshukai, recovery is viewed as a spiritual process offering the potential for a new life compared to models offered by medical treatment that place little emphasis on the role of spirituality in recovery. While medical models seek to reduce alcohol-related stigma by viewing it as a treatable ‘disease’, rather than a personality weakness, Danshukai encourages members to embrace their identity as a Danshukai member and to engage with a ‘way of abstinence’ that includes a lifelong commitment to Danshukai activities and helping others with similar problems.

“Making Peace with Grief through Indigenous Wisdom.” (Tomofumi Oka, 2016) In N. Hinerman & M. R. Sanders (Eds.), Care, Loss, and the End of Life (pp. 127-137). Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

“Survivor Spirituality versus Popular-Therapeutic Spirituality: Two Conflicting Approaches to Supporting Japanese Family Survivors of Suicide.” (Tomofumi Oka, 2016) Pp. 131-42 in Spirituality: An Interdisciplinary View, edited by Jennifer Mata-McMahon, Tihana Kovač, and Grace Miller. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press

“Spirituality and Japanese Self-Help Groups for Alcoholics: Zen Buddhism for Abstinence.” (Tomofumi Oka and Richard Chehnall, 2015) Pp. 197-212 in Understanding New Perspectives of Spirituality, edited by Edie Lanphar and Agata Wilczek. Freeland, Oxfordshire, UK: The Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Danshu-dojo: A qualitative examination of a Japanese therapeutic community for alcoholics (Richard Chenhall, & Tomofumi Oka, 2014). Alcohol and Alcoholism, 49(suppl 1), i41. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agu053.17

Self-help groups for alcoholics in Japan: Models of “recovery”. (Richard Chenhall & Tomofumi Oka, 2014) Jeremy Breden, Stacey Steele, & Carolyn S. Stevens (Eds.), Internationalising Japan: Discourse and practice (pp. 125-141). New York: Routledge.

Oka, T. (2013). Danshu-no-michi, “The Way of Abstinence”: Japanese cultural-spiritual model of alcohol abstinence developed by alcoholics’ self-help groups. Sophia University Studies in Social Services, 37, 5-30.

“Grief is Love”: Understanding grief through self-help groups organised by the family survivors of suicide (Tomofumi Oka, 2013). In A. A. Drautzburg & J. Oldfield (Eds.), Making sense of suffering: A collective attempt (pp. 75-86). Freeland, Oxfordshire, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Self-Help Groups, Self-Help Supporters, and Social Work: A Theoretical Discussion with Some Case Illustrations of Family Survivors of Suicide in Japan [Original in Japanese] (Tomofumi Oka, & Thomasina Borkman, 2011), Studies on Social Work 37(3), 168-183.

The “New Life” model of a Japanese self-help group for alcoholics. (Tomofumi Oka, 2011). Sophia University Studies in Social Services, 35, 16-35.

Self-help groups for family survivors of suicide in Japan: For empowerment, not grief care. (Tomofumi Oka, Sachiko Tanaka, Hidehiko Ake, & Shōko Kuwabara, 2011). Proceedings of the 21st Asia-Pacific Social Work Conference, Tokyo, July 15-18, pp. 526-533.

Qualitative Social Work Research in the Asia-Pacific Region. (Robyn Munford, Tomofumi Oka, & Murli Desai, 2009). Qualitative Social Work, 8(4), 419-425.

Different things under the same name? A research dialogue on self-help organisations between a Japanese social worker and an Australian anthropologist. (Tomofumi Oka & Richard Chenhall, 2007). Sophia University Studies in Social Services, 31, 39-64.

An Initial View of Self-Help Groups for Japanese Alcoholics: Danshukai in its Historical, Social, and Cultural Contexts. (Richard D. Chenhall, & Tomofumi Oka, 2009). International Journal of Self Help and Self Care, 5(2), 111-152. DOI: 10.2190/SH.5.2.b

Research on Self-Help Organizations in Japan: Working with a Sense of Duty (“Giri”). (Tomofumi Oka, & Richard Dean Chenhall, 2011) International Journal of Self-Help and Self-Care 5(4), 371-392. DOI: 10.2190/SH.5.4.h

Qualitative Research in Social Work [Original in Japanese] (Tomofumi Oka, & Ian Shaw, 2003), in N. Hisada (Eds.), Shakai Fukushi no Kenkû Nyûmon [Introduction to Social Work Research]. (pp. 115-147) Tokyo: Chûô Hôki.

Self-Help Groups for Parents of Children with Intractable Diseases: A Qualitative Study of Their Organisational Problems. PhD Dissertation. Cardiff University School of Social Sciences (University of Wales, Cardiff)

右田紀久恵・小寺全世・白澤政和編『社会福祉援助と連携』中央法規出版 NII書誌ID(NCID) BA48336230 ISBN 4805819642

A Research Report on Problems Confronting Leaders and Members of Parent Groups (Tomofumi Oka, ed, 2000). Tokyo: The Research Team of Oya-no-Kai Renrakukai.

The History, Concepts and Theories of Self-Help Groups: From an International Perspective [Original in Japanese] (Tomofumi Oka, & Thomasina Borkman, 2000). The Japanese Journal of Occupational Therapy 34 (7), 718-722.

A Research Report on Groups for Parents of Children with Rare and Serious Diseases: Their Organisational Problems and the Solutions Available to Them. (Tomofumi Oka, ed, 1998). Tokyo: The Research Team of Oya-no-Kai Renrakukai.

Selbsthilfe in Japan (Tomofumi Oka, 1993). In K.Balke & C Reis (Hrsg.) Selbsthilfegruppen-Unterstützung in Europa (pp.101-113). Frankfurt am Main: Eigenverlag des Deutschen Vereins für öffentliche und private Fürsorge.

Self-Help Groups in Japan: Trends and Traditions. (Tomofumi Oka, 1997, original in 1994). Japanese Journal of Social Services, 1, 121-139.

Japan. (Tomiko Hayashi, & Tomofumi Oka, 1996). In J. Steyaet, D. Colombi, & J. Rafferty (Eds.). Human Services and Information Technology: An International Perspective (pp.163-172). Hants, England: Arena, Ashgate.

岡知史 (1995)「地域福祉の主体：地域福祉の住民組織化と主体形成」(pp. 165-177)牧里毎治・野口定久・河合克義編『地域福祉：これからの社会福祉6』有斐閣