In this chapter, the author discusses how, and to which extent, self-help groups differ from treatment groups in their approach to personal transformation. The focus is on the self-help group’s work, exploring what kind of community a self-help group is and what is happening there. The chapter compares two main models for self-organized self-help groups and points out some common “therapeutic mechanisms” that are also shared by therapy groups. At the same time there are interesting differences, not only between professional group therapy and self-help groups, but also between a 12-step group (e.g. Anonymous Alcoholics) and a typical “Self-help Norway group”. Self-help Norway is more psychologically oriented and emphasizes personal autonomy and self-control, while AA groups build up under a strong collective identity and view self-control as an illusory target for an addict. The author argues that the primary objective of self-help groups is not making new intimate friends. The therapeutic effectiveness of self-help groups seems to depend on that the intimacy and confidentiality within the group does not transform it into a “new family”. It is the quality of becoming “confidential strangers” that is the clue here.
This chapter describes and analyses how self-help in groups was introduced in a rural municipality in Northern Norway. The location has drawn national attention because local forces managed to establish a clearinghouse for self-help groups (LINK) based on Self-help Norway’s principles at an early moment in the organization’s history. The case of “Selvhjelpshuset LINK” is analyzed with theories of social entrepreneurship and social innovation and field-theory. The legacy of Selvhjelpshuset LINK may give us some lessons on the social entrepreneur’s central role when it comes to introduce and implement social innovations, the potential for resource allocation – in terms of economic, social, cultural and symbolic capital. It also draws attention to the dynamics of collaboration between civil society actors and municipal and state government agents. A dimension that has been the focus for studies of new forms of governance.
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