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Handbook of Community Psychology pp 591–613Cite as

Self-Help Groups

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Abstract

Among the various mental and physical health intervention modalities, none are likely to be as compatible with the values, goals, and ideology of community psychology as self-help groups (SHGs). Ecologically, while they are part of the community’s health care delivery system, their roots are in the community, rather than in the various professional disciplines that staff the other components of that system. Furthermore, they are the only component of the delivery system whose sanction for existence comes from its immediate beneficiaries, rather than from the sociopolitical structure. While SHGs were initially born out of dissatisfaction with the established health care system (Katz & Bender, 1976), their surge in growth and their prevalence today can largely be explained by the changes in the social and cultural climate of America following the social and political eruption of the 1960s, which left in its wake, among other things, counterculturalism, the consumer movement, and a devaluation of the respect and privileges traditionally accorded professionals and others in authority. Thus, SHGs are the component of the health care system most likely to be identified with, and accessible, to the community served by the system

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, 23229, USA

    Leon H. Levy

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  1. Leon H. Levy
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  1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA

    Julian Rappaport

  2. New York University, New York, New York, USA

    Edward Seidman

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Levy, L.H. (2000). Self-Help Groups. In: Rappaport, J., Seidman, E. (eds) Handbook of Community Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4193-6_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4193-6_25

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