Leaders Narratives of Organizational Issues in US & Japanese Self-Help Groups

Tomofumi Oka, Sophia University With Thomasina Borkman, George Mason University

Summary
Samples: self-help organizations for parents of children with diseases in the US (7) and Japan (24). Method: qualitative interviews with leaders of these organizations. Results: leaders narratives of organizational issues are influenced by their cultural context.

Summary

Results: leaders narratives of organizational issues are influenced by their cultural context.

Outsider Organizational Issues

Culture
Question Answer

Leader

Interviewer

Results: leaders narratives of organizational issues are influenced by their cultural context.

Implications for Social Work

Self-help groups empower clients. Social worker as consultant on organizational issues. Leaders narratives are a very important way to access their organizational issues. Cultural knowledge may help social workers understand leaders narratives about their organizational issues.

Example: Trapped Leader Story

The Japanese leaders often told the Trapped leader story, in which they were trapped into taking a leadership role against their will, and how they wanted to relinquish their position as quickly as possible.

Trapped leader Story Reflects Japanese Culture

Passive leadership
The

nail that sticks out will get a pounding. might hesitate to say no.

Group pressure
People

Negative experience of semi-compulsory membership organizations

Neighborhood

societies, PTA, etc.

Example: Progress Story

The American leaders often told the Progress story: their organization is progressing and developing after overcoming various difficulties.

Progress Story Reflects US Culture

Strong

belief in progress and the future Concept of linear time

Japanese leaders sometimes say:

Maintaining

the status quo is good enough. We dont care if our group disbands now that we have met one another. Our goal is to eventually disband our group, because that will mean we dont need it anymore. Concept of cyclic time

Conclusions
Few cross-cultural studies of organizational issues of self-help groups. We should consider how different cultures have different traditions about mutual help. What sort of traditional and cultural attitudes do people have about mutual help in your homeland? How does that tradition influence your areas self-help groups and their organizational issues?