A critical review of "rational" design thinking for hikikomori and youth support systems

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K02073
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: Ogino Tatsushi 静岡大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (00313916)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ひきこもり / ひきこもり支援政策 / 政治改革 / 行政改革 / 内閣府 / 地方分権改革 / 地方自治体 / 地域精神保健

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The support policy for social withdrawal has started since 2000, but a large number of Hikikomori have been left behind without receiving public support. The direct reason for this is that employment support was the main public support and that there is a large regional disparity in support resources.
However, the background is political reforms that have progressed since the 1990s, especially administrative reforms and decentralization reforms. The Cabinet Office, which was established as a symbol of political leadership, had treated Hikikomori as a youth employment problem rather than as a problem to be addressed in community mental health systems. The latter was originally planned by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). The decentralization reform weakened the nationwide uniform response by MHLW. At the same time, this reform reduced the financial strength of local governments. As a result, it made it difficult for local governments to tackle this new problem.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、ひきこもり問題と「政治改革」との関係を検討することで、これまで関連研究では等閑視されてきた、支援政策についての政治過程論的な理解を進めたものである。就労支援への偏重は新自由主義的なものとして多々批判され、地域格差についてはごく一般的な問題として認識されてきたといえよう。しかし、それらは政治制度の変動から生じている部分もあり、それを理解することで状況の変革を図る緒も掴めよう。
また逆に、本研究は「政治改革」のもたらした問題を読み解くための事例研究ともなっている。このことは、今後も生じてくるであろう、とりわけ各地域での対応を必要とする諸問題を想定すれば意義のあるものといえよう。