10th International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society (ICGB)

June 11-14, 2014 in Hong Kong

Grief Is Love: Criticism of Professional Grief Care by
Self-Help Groups for Family Survivors of Suicide in Japan
Tomofumi Oka, Ph.D. (Social Work)
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan































Tomofumi Oka, Email: t-oka@sophia.ac.jp
The purpose of my presentation is to tell the story
of a mother, Sachiko Tanaka (pictured upper left)
who lost her son to suicide in 2005. A second and
equal purpose is to explain the context of the
message of the self-help groups for family
survivors of suicide she works with: Grief is
love.
Japanese families traditionally have a Buddhist
altar in their houses (pictured lower left), and
believe the altar connects them with their
deceased family members. I will talk about how
Sachiko has maintained her relationship with her
late son.
As an active leader of a civil movement for family
survivors of suicide, Sachiko believes that all
Japanese local governments should acknowledge
the great potential of self-help groups to help
family survivors of suicide. The reality is that
many government officials only partner with
professionals who provide grief care services to
such families. Both officials and professionals
often consider the families powerless and
suffering from mental health problems.
Self-help groups for family survivors provide an
alternative perspective on grief. Because their
perspective is based on indigenous cultural
values, professionals can learn much from self-
help groups about how to help family survivors of
suicide.





References:

1. Oka, T. (2013). "Grief is love": Understanding grief through self-help groups organised by the
family survivors of suicide. In A. A. Drautzburg & J. Oldfield (Eds.), Making sense of suffering: A
collective attempt (pp. 75-86). Freeland, Oxfordshire, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press.

2. Oka, T., Tanaka, S., Ake, H., & Kuwabara, S. (2011). Self-help groups for family survivors of
suicide in Japan: For empowerment, not grief care. Proceedings of the 21st Asia-Pacific Social
Work Conference (pp. 526-533). Available from https://sophia.academia.edu/TomofumiOka

3. Oka, T., & Borkman, T. (2011). Self-help groups, self-help supporters, and social work: A
theoretical discussion with some case illustrations of family survivors of suicide in Japan.
Studies on Social Work, 37(3), 168-183. Available from
https://sophia.academia.edu/TomofumiOka

4. Oka, T., Tanaka, S., & Ake, H. (2010). We dont need grief care, say some family survivors of
suicide. Chiiki Hoken [Community Health], 41(3), 21-25. Available from
https://sophia.academia.edu/TomofumiOka