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Self‐help groups: The members' perspectives
Author(s) -
Knight Bob,
Wollert Richard W.,
Levy Leon H.,
Frame Cynthia L.,
Padgett Valerie P.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00892281
Subject(s) - health psychology , public health , psychology , social psychology , medicine , nursing
The emergence of self-help groups as an important source of help-giving for persons with psychological problems has occurred without a systematic attempt to tap an important source of information about this phenomenon: the members themselves. Eighty members of nine self-help groups were surveyed. The results of this study suggest that self-help groups serve a different population than do professional therapists, that the help-giving processes are mainly supportive in nature, and that an optimistic attitude toward increased collaboration between professional care-givers and self-help groups is justified. Questions for further research are discussed.