著者

松岡 克尚

出版者

関西学院大学

雑誌

関西学院大学社会学部紀要 (ISSN:04529456)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.99, pp.115-130, 2005-11-08

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Empowerment is a concept that is indispensable to the theory and practice of social work for the people with mental illness. However, there have been criticisms in terms of postmodernism and disabilities studies that social work essentially has a concealed power structure. Therefore, with more support from social workers, clients become more dependent on them, resulting in a disempowered state. This study evaluates the role of social workers in the empowerment of the people with mental illness in terms of the association between "disabilities culture" and empowerment. Disabilities culture indicates the claim that the people with disabilities have their own culture. For the people with mental illness, establishing their own culture means nothing less than empowerment for themselves. The role of social workers is to make approaches so that the people with mental illness can create their own culture by self-empowerment and deepen exchanges with others who have disabilities. We then examine the issues inherent in such approaches.