2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Development of a Social Work Model for Suicide Prevention in the Japan Self-Defense Forces Focusing on Military Social Work

Research Project

PDF

Project/Area Number	21K18461
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Medium-sized Section 8:Sociology and related fields
Research Institution	St. Catherine University
Principal Investigator	KENGO TANAKA 聖カタリナ大学, 人間健康福祉学部, 教授 (30340368)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	中野一茂皇學館大学, 現代日本社会学部, 准教授 (80517996) 益満孝一鹿児島純心女子短期大学, その他部局等, 教授 (40296372) 高沢佳司皇學館大学, 文学部, 准教授 (70781574) 尾崎剛志静岡県立大学短期大学部, 短期大学部, 准教授 (20446222) 村上佳子聖カタリナ大学, 人間健康福祉学部, 准教授 (70772846) 小木曽真司聖カタリナ大学, 人間健康福祉学部, 講師 (10737901)
Project Period (FY)	2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	Military Social Work / Suicide Prevention / Military Culture / Resilience
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In the social work model for suicide prevention in the Japan Self-Defense Forces, based on the social work with the duty of “intervention at the points where people interact with their environment,” what social workers are particularly expected to do are (1) cooperation with leaders (responsible persons of units and commissioned officers having subordinates, etc.), (2) response to stigma and encouragement of asking for help, and (3) response to personal protective factors and environmental protective factors related to suicide prevention. When actually developing them in the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the wholeness and continuity of the lives of the members should be focused in addition to fully understanding and considering the characteristics of the duties, organization, culture, and history of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
Free Research Field	ソーシャルワーク
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	国内外情勢の変動により自衛官を取り巻く業務・生活環境が激変する中、彼らの生活変動を考慮し、生活の安定化を支援するためのソーシャルワーク実践と研究実績はわが国でほぼ皆無である。本研究は米国のMilitary Social Work及び米陸軍の自死予防対策を基盤に自衛官を対象とした自死予防ソーシャルワークモデルの開発を進めた。その過程で米陸軍の自殺予防マニュアルの翻訳・分析を行い報告書として全国の陸上・海上・航空自衛隊基地及び駐屯地等に発送を行い、研究成果の共有を行った。また研究成果は自衛官のQOLの向上と職業生活の安定化と、広義の我が国の安全保障の向上においても非常に有用であると考える。