Tomofumi Oka

The concept of self-help groups is introduced into Japan. However, some professionals misunderstand the concept and give the name "self-help groups" to the groups of their clients. We discuss three qualities which Japanese self-help groups are required to maintain if they qualify as self-help groups. The qualities are personal interaction, individual independence, and development of a liberation movement. First, Japanese group-oriented culture tends to oppose individual freedom in groups. As a result, group members feel inhibited and miss opportunities for personal interaction with each other in groups. Second, some Japanese groups are too cohesive for individual members to maintain their independence. In addition, old Japanese tradition still makes people think that families ("ie") are the basic social units, not individuals. Japanese self-help groups should free individuals from their families ("ie"), and give them individual independence. Third, Japanese stigmatized persons such as mental patients are oppressed and discriminated against. Though some social workers regard self-help groups as a method ofphychological therapy, Japanese self-help groups should become a liberation movement against social oppression.

Peer Group Supervision in Social Work Education. (Tomofumi Oka, 1991). In Asian-Pacific Region Social Work Education Association & Sociology Department of Peking University of China (Eds.). Status-quo, Challenge and Prospect: Collected Works of the Seminar of the Asian-Pacific Region Social Work Education. (pp.445-451). Beijing: Peking University Press.

抄録<br /> We see that concepts about self-help groups have been developed in Europe and North America. We make some comparison between them andJapanese ones. For this purpose, we take up studies as follows: (1) M. Killilea&#039;s literatural study; she finds 20 categories among a lot of papers discussing &#039;Mutual Help Organization&#039;. We are interested in which categories are often used in Japanese literature. (2) A Defition ofA.H. Katz and E.I. Bender and concepts developed by a group of researchers in WHO&#039;s European Office; they try to make common definitions and concepts about selfhelp for the purpose of making it possible for European researchers to discuss self-help beyond cultural difference. (3) Concepts developed by A. Trojan and his colleagues; they establish concepts about German self-help. (4) Concepts developed by M.L. Moeller and his colleagues; their effort has been directed toward therapeutic collective self-help. Survey on Japanese literature on self-help tells us that in Japan the two words are generally used to express self-help group ; &quot;SerufuHerupu Gurupu (Self-Help Group)&quot; and &quot;Tqjisha Soshiki (Organization of people concerned)&quot;. The former is often used by professionals in medical and psychological fields, and expresses groups of patients and/or their families or therapeutic groups. And the latter is often used by community organizers such as social workers of Social Welfare Councils, and its discussion is often accompanied by organization of neighborhood and coordination of community agencies. We, in addition, find that there are groups or organizations in Japan, which are relevant to self-help and not suited well for these foreign concepts of self-help. One of them is self-help mutual-aid association acknowledged in &quot;Chonai&quot;. An example is &quot;Rojin Kurabu (Senior Club)&quot;. &quot;Chonai&quot; is an unit ofa kind of Japanese traditional community, which keeps a close relation with a government office. They are different from what European and North American researchers call self-help group in that they are not truly voluntary in spite of their spontaneity.

セルフ・「ペ」ルプとなっているが、これは誤植。