SELF-HELP AS MUTUAL AID

SELF-HELP AS MUTUAL AID

Self-help group participation is more common now than ever. Addiction- oriented 12-step groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, account for the vast major- ity of the f2f groups attended. In fact, over 6,000,000 adults a year have contact with an addiction self-help group (Humphreys et al., 2004). Members share their experiences and strengths in order that they may better cope with their common problem. It is this self-referenced, rather than authoritarian, instruction, support, and guidance that is the defi ning feature of all self-help, mutual aid groups.

One of the main therapeutic factors of self-helps groups is their ability to normalize a stigmatizing condition, to take the embarrassment away from having an undesirable disorder (Madara, 1999; McKenna & Bargh, 1998). “Generally speaking, membership in a self-help group provides important new roles for a person otherwise disqualifi ed from being normal” (Levine & Perkins, 1987, p. 248). Kaufmann (1996) talks about the ability of self-help groups to be therapeutic in a focused, specifi c man- ner. She calls this therapeutic effect “an antidote to stigmatization.” She reports that people who join self-help groups “do so only because they are accepted as members

9 Internet Self-Help and Support Groups

sharing a common predicament of mental distress. This is ostracism in reverse; only those with the stigmata may join the group.” (Kaufmann, 1996, p. 12).

The term self-help is misleading, though, since it implies that people are involved in an effort to help only themselves. In fact, a defi ning feature of self-help groups is that people help one another. A mutual-aid group is the term preferred by researchers, because it better represents the therapeutic process actually occurring. The term mutual aid also captures another important element of these groups— helper therapy. Helper therapy is that part of the therapeutic value of these groups that is available because each person can be both a receiver of help and a helper. Humphreys and Rappaport (1994) suggested that the terms self-help and mutual- aid groups be used interchangeably in the professional research literature, though, because the term self-help is the preferred term among self-help members. The recommended term for groups that are organized and led by a professional mental health worker is support groups.

The goals of participation vary greatly from group to group, and as a result, it is not possible to compare outcomes across self-help groups in general. Humphreys and Rappaport (1994) suggest that it may be more benefi cial for researchers to pay greater attention to the nonclinical (and harder to quantify) changes brought about by participation in self-help groups. From the point of view of the self-help group member, an increase in the number of one’s friendships or a change in one’s worldview may have more practical signifi cance and greater personal value than a decrease in depression or an increase in self-esteem. The authors raise an important question that is relevant to Internet mutual-aid groups, though: Does group mem- bership ever harm people? This is an underaddressed issue for both f2f and Internet self-help groups.

Jacobs and Goodman (1989) defi ned self-help groups as member-governed organizations in which members share a “common predicament, problem, or con- cern; a reciprocal process of help-intended activity and minimal fees aimed at main- tenance rather than profi t.” The authors point out that there is a wide range of formats for, and sizes of, self-help groups. What different groups have in common is “self-governance, homogeneity of concern, a democratic ideology, and nonprofi t status” ( Jacobs & Goodman, 1989, p. 583). The therapeutic value of these groups derives from the way they function to normalize the experiences of the members.

The new member, who frequently has felt stigmatized and criticized (or, at the very least, isolated and not understood), frequently fi nds immediate acceptance as a member of the group. That sometimes stunning experience seems to be a vital step toward making the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes necessary for more effective functioning and improved quality of life ( Jacobs & Goodman, 1989, p. 538).

Helper therapy is the therapeutic value these groups provide when a mem- ber becomes a helper as well as someone receiving help. When functioning as a helper, the group member’s self-worth is enhanced and he/she is empowered in a

228 Storm A. King and Danielle Moreggi

therapeutic manner. Helping others, especially newer members, validates the mem- ber as an important part of his or her self-help community. When someone shares what they have learned, it makes that knowledge more permanent, and thus more valuable, to the giver of it.

The growth in the number of self-help groups is due to their special ability to meet people’s needs for peer support and practical information (Madara, 1997). Dissatisfaction with traditional medical models for solving emotional disorders, and the general destigmatization of seeking peer support, has fueled this growth. Humphreys (1997) expressed the value members receive as follows:

At a time when membership in mainline religions is declining, some Americans seem to

be fi nding spiritual renewal in small groups. Even mutual aid self-help groups that do not address spirituality as directly as do 12-step groups may benefi t members’ spiritual lives. The experience (distinct from the intellectual realization) of learning that we need not suffer life’s burdens alone, that we have a place in the human community, and that we have something both to offer and to receive from other beings is too profound to be captured by such terms as “improved mental health” or “better coping.” (Humphreys, 1997 p. 15).