Premium
Self‐Help Groups in the Welfare State: Treatment Program or Voluntary Action?
Author(s) -
Karlsson Magnus,
Grassman Eva Jeppsson,
Hansson JanHåkan
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
nonprofit management and leadership
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.844
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1542-7854
pISSN - 1048-6682
DOI - 10.1002/nml.13204
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , categorization , voluntary association , action (physics) , voluntary action , turnover , psychology , state (computer science) , welfare , sociology , social psychology , epistemology , political science , social science , management , computer science , economics , law , philosophy , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , agency (philosophy)
This article identifies two different perspectives used when studying self‐help groups: the professional treatment perspective and the voluntary action perspective. An outline of the perspectives leads to a discussion of their consequences for self‐help group research. The authors categorize about five hundred scientific publications from all over the world on the basis of the perspectives they present on self‐help groups; the results indicate that different perspectives seem to be preferred in different countries and when discussing different subjects. Finally, the authors suggest questions and concepts that the perspectives generate, and they emphasize the importance of being aware of which perspective is used in the study of self‐help groups.