A common way for researchers to think about mutual help organizations is as alternative treatments for people with problems in living. This approach, illustrated here in the context of a series of empirical studies conducted by the author, views people as service seekers. Although much can be gained from research in which there is collaboration between professionals and the self-help community, there remains a need for work that uses theories and methods consistent with the experiences of the members and the ethos of the organizations. A different way to understand mutual help organizations is to view them as normative narrative communities where identity transformation takes place. This approach forces us to listen to the personal stories that people tell about their lives. It has several advantages, including the reduction of professional centrism and the explicit linking of individual lives to community processes. A narrative studies framework also has the advantage of tying mutual help to a great deal of cross-disciplinary research, including cognitive psychology, anthropology, sociology, and literary analysis. General features of models for understanding the role of narratives, autobiographical memory, and personal change through identity transformation are described in the context of mutual help organizations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Antze, G. W.
(1976). The role of ideologies in peer psychotherapy organizations: Some theoretical considerations and the three case studies. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 12, 323-346.
2.
Baumeister, R. F.
, Stillwell, A., & Wotman, S. R. (1990). Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives about anger. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 994-1005.
3.
Borkman, T.
(1990). Experiential, professional and lay frames of reference. In T. J. Powell (Ed.), Working with self-help. Silver Spring, MD: NASW Press.
4.
Brewer, W. F.
, & Lichtenstein, E. H. (1982). Stories are to entertain: A structural-affect theory of stories. Journal of Pragmatics, 6, 473-486.
5.
Bruner, E. M.
, & Gofrain, P. (1984). Dialogic narration and the paradoxes of Masada. In E. M. Bruner (Ed.), Text, play, and story: The construction and reconstruction of self and society. Washington, DC: American Ethnological Society.
6.
Cain, C.
(1991). Personal stories: Identity acquisition and self-understanding in Alcoholics Anonymous. Ethos, 19(2), 210-251.
7.
Colby, B. N.
(1982). Notes on the transmission and evolution of stories. Journal of Pragmatics, 6, 463-472.
8.
Coles, R.
(1989). The call of stories: Teaching and the moral imagination. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
9.
Denzin, N. K.
(1989). The research act. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
10.
Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service
. (1988). Surgeon general's workshop on self-help and public health (HRSA, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health and Resource Development Publication No. 224-250). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
11.
Gergen, K.
(1991). The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books.
12.
Gergen, K. J.
, & Gergen, M. M. (1988). Narrative and the self as relationship. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 17-56.
13.
Goldberg, M.
(1982). Theology and narrative. Nashville, TN: Abbington Press.
14.
Goldberg, M.
(1987). Jews and Christians: Getting our stories straight. Nashville, TN: Abbington Press.
15.
Hauerwas, S.
(1983). The peaceable kingdom. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
16.
Howard, G. S.
(1991). Culture tales: A narrative approach to thinking, cross-cultural psychology, and psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 46, 187-197.
17.
Humphreys, K.
(1992, May). Twelve step stories and transformations in personal epistemology. In J. Rappaport (Chair), Community narratives and personal stories.Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association.
18.
James, W.
(1929). The varieties of religious experience. New York: Modern Library. (Original work published 1902)
19.
Kennedy, M.
(1989, June). Psychiatric hospitalizations of Growers. Paper presented at the Second Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action, East Lansing, MI.
20.
Kennedy, M.
(1991, June). Ideology and transformation in mutual help groups. Paper presented at the Third Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action, Tempe, AZ.
21.
Kuhn, M.
, & McPartland, T. S. (1954). An empirical investigation of self-attitudes. American Sociological Review, 19(1), 68-76.
22.
Kurtz, E.
(1992). Commentary. Annual Review of Addictions, Research and Treatment, 397-400.
23.
Labov, W.
(1982). Speech actions and reactions in personal narrative. In D. Tannen (Ed.), Analyzing discourse: Text and talk (pp. 219-247). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
24.
LeGuin, U.
(1990). Dancing at the edge of the world: Thoughts on words, women, places. New York: Harper & Row.
25.
Levine, M.
(1988). An analysis of mutual assistance. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16(2), 167-188.
26.
Levy, L.
(in press). Self-help groups. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology. New York: Plenum.
27.
Lincoln, Y S.
, & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
28.
Luke, D. A. (1989). The measurement of change in a self-help context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
29.
Manicas, P. T.
(1987). A history and philosophy of the social sciences. New York: Blackwell.
30.
Markus, H.
, & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41, 954-969.
31.
McAdams, D. P.
(1990). Unity and purpose in human lives: The emergence of identity as a life story. In A. I. Rabin, R. A. Zucker, R. A. Emmons, & S. Frank (Eds.), Studying persons and lives (pp. 148-200). New York: Springer.
32.
McAdams, D. P.
(1993). The stories we live by. New York: William Morrow.
33.
McFadden, L.
, Seidman, E., & Rappaport, J. (1992). A comparison of espoused theories of self and mutual help: Implications for mental health professionals. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 23 (6), 515-520.
34.
Miller, P. J.
, & Moore, B. B. (1989). Narrative conjunctions of caregiver and child: A comparative perspective on socialization through stories. Ethos, 17, 428-445.
35.
Mischler, E. G.
(1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
36.
Mumbry, D. K.
(1987). The political function of narrative in organizations. Communication Monographs, 54, 113-125.
37.
Nelson, K.
(1993). The psychological and social origins of autobiographical memory. Psychological Science, 4(1), 7-14.
38.
Rappaport, J.
(Chair). (1992, May). Community narratives and personal stories.Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association.
39.
Rappaport, J.
, & Chinsky, J. M. (1974). Models for delivery of service: An historical and conceptual perspective. Professional Psychology, 5, 42-50.
40.
Rappaport, J.
, Chinsky, J. M., & Cowen, E. L. (1971). Innovations in helping chronic patients: College students in a mental institution. New York: Academic Press.
41.
Rappaport, J.
, Seidman, E., Toro, P. A., McFadden, L. S., Reischl, T. M., Roberts, L. J., Salem, D. A., Stein, C. H., & Zimmerman, M. A. (1985). Collaborative research with a mutual help organization. Social Policy, 12, 12-24.
42.
Rappaport, J.
, & Simkins, R. (1991). Healing and empowering through community narrative. Prevention in Human Services, 10, 29-50.
43.
Riessman, F.
(1985). New dimensions in self-help. Social Policy, 15, 2-4.
44.
Roberts, L. J.
(1987, May). The appeal of mutual help: The participants' perspective. Paper presented at the First Biennial Conference on Community Research and Action, Columbia, SC.
45.
Roberts, L. J.
, Luke, D. A., Rappaport, J., Seidman, E., Toro, P., & Reischl, T. (1991). Charting uncharted terrain: A behavioral observation system for mutual help groups. American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 715-737.
46.
Ross, J.
(1989). Relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96, 341-357.
47.
Russell, R. L.
, & Van Den Broek, P. (1992). Changing narrative schemas in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 29(3), 344-354.
48.
Salzer, M. S.
, McFadden, L., & Rappaport, J. (in press). Professional views of self-help groups: A comparative and contextual analysis. Administration and Policy in Mental Health.
49.
Sarbin, T. R.
(1986). The narrative as a root metaphor for psychology. In T. R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct. New York: Praeger.
50.
Schank, R. C.
(1990). Tell me a story: A new look at real and artificial memory. New York: Scribner.
51.
Schank, R. C.
, & Abelson, R. (1977). Scripts, plans, goals, and understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
52.
Stein, N. L.
(1982). The definition of a story. Journal of Pragmatics, 6, 487-507.
53.
Toro, P.
, Rappaport, J., & Seidman, E. (1987). The social climate of mutual help and psychotherapy groups. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 430-431.
54.
Tulving, E.
(1983). Elements of episodic memory. New York: Oxford University Press.
55.
Vitz, P. C.
(1990). The use of stories in moral development: New psychological reasons for an old educational method. American Psychologist, 45, 709-720.
56.
Zimmerman, M. A.
, Reischl, T. M., Seidman, E., Rappaport, J., Toro, P. A., & Salem, D. A. (1991). Expansion strategies of a mutual help organization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 251-278.
