Fusion of Self-Help Group Spirituality and Indigenous Knowledge: Challenging the Discourse of Popular Psychology

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K04184
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Social welfare and social work studies
• Research Institution: Sophia University
• Principal Investigator: Oka Tomofumi 上智大学, 総合人間科学部, 教授 (50194329)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 自助グル－プ / スピリチュアリティ / 土着の知 / 通俗心理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Self-help groups have been understood to work with experiential knowledge, which is accumulated through the exchange of experiences by people in similar conditions. Their experiential knowledge has been discussed in comparison with professional knowledge and with lay knowledge. These three kinds of knowledge are not exclusive to each other. The purpose of my research was to expand our understanding of the experiential knowledge base of self-help groups by including two additional knowledge sources: popular psychology and indigenous/religious knowledge. The discussion includes three influential social factors: the legitimization by local government, the alliance between self-help groups and professionals, and the declining religious rites as containers of indigenous knowledge. My research implies we should be wary of the nature of the experiential knowledge of self-help groups, which is greatly influenced by socio-cultural factors unrelated to their members’ experiences.

Free Research Field

社会福祉学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

自助グループの「体験的知識」は、共通の体験をもつ当事者のわかちあいにより形成され、専門職のもつ専門的知識と異なるものとして理解されてきた。しかしながら実際には、その区別は容易ではない。当事者が生活する空間には、すでに通俗心理学に基づく知識や土着の知が堆積し、それとの区別もつきにくい。本研究は自助グループの体験的知識の純粋性に疑問を投げかけ、この概念のさらなる吟味の必要性を訴えたことに意義がある。