Since the 1970s all of the available literature suggested that the UK, in common with Europe, North America and Scandinavia, had seen significant growth of single issue self-help/mutual aid groups related to health and social care issues. Yet in the UK there appeared to be no real body of academic interest nor any sustained national policy initiatives. The aim of the study was therefore to enhance an understanding of the relationship of these self-help/mutual aid groups to UK social policy. The study was constructed in two parts. Part One, a historical study critically appraised the way in which the state appeared to have viewed and responded to various manifestations of self help/mutual aid, both pre- and post- the welfare state. Part Two, a case-study of two UK grassroots self-help/mutual aid groups explored members' viewpoints, their reasons for joining, benefits derived and the impact they felt it has had on their lives and their relations with professionals and wider `political' forums. The result of the study suggests a fundamental reframing of the relationship between self-help/mutual aid and the state is required at both a conceptual and practical level by UK policy makers and academics. This would acknowledge: that contemporary self-help/mutual aid groups are part of the broader tradition of voluntary action in the third sector, self-help/mutual aid's unique contribution in terms of social relations, process and knowledge; its difference from philanthropy/formal voluntary sector and therefore distinct characteristics and relations with the-state; and contemporary health and social care groups' potential dual identity with communities of interest and geographic communities and their relationship to and distinction from the contemporary service user and carer movements. 116, findings have implications for policy related to participation (citizen and health), social capital and citizenship.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: PhD (Community Psychology) in the Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand, 2003. / Caring for an ill person, especially a terminally ill person can be a rewarding yet equally stressful experience. An organisation of carers (mutual-aid group) provides a support system responsive to the special problems of carers, including discussion groups, which are responsive to the inadequacies in the ongoing lives of carers, in promoting mental health. Mutual-aid groups fall within the social action model of community psychology, which aims to promote personal empowerment, defined as the process of gaining influence over events and outcomes of importance to an individual or group. This model is a shift in intervention from prevention to empowerment and from needs to rights. Mutual aid groups are built around such values as co-operation, shared experience, personal responsibility and mutual help in the achievement of a common end. The present study was in line with the aims of health promotion at a tertiary level, which are to improve solutions for living and increase health, strength, skill and human rights for carers of the terminally ill, in very empowering contexts. The present research followed up on the recommendations by Dhlomo (2000) that more groups catering for the caretakers of people labeled as abnormal should be formed to promote health at a tertiary level. The aims of this thesis were to elicit needs from a group of carers of the terminally-ill, form and evaluate an ongoing mutual-aid group program and especially promote the variables of empowerment and carer effectiveness. It was hypothesised that this mutual-aid group program for carers of the terminally-ill persons would result in improvement of the above-mentioned variables. Eleven carers committed themselves to be available for the mutual aid group. In line with the social action model, this was a participatory, action research, program-evaluation type of design, where co-researchers (carers) jointly defined the aims of their group, themes to be discussed and the meanings of such variables as empowerment and carer-effectiveness. Psychological techniques used in the present study included a biographical inventory, needs analysis questionnaire, power maps, carer effectiveness rating scale and program evaluation interview guide. The participants pre- and post- tested themselves on the variables of empowerment and carer-effectiveness. The group ran for a contracted period of six weeks and the members met twice each week. The study realised its aims and research hypotheses. The research encouraged voluntary community participation. It operated on the principle of non-coerciveness, non-hierarchy, decentralisation, spontaneous leadership and it took into account members' psychological issues. From sessions themes which were presented and analysed, it was evident that the study yielded positive results. It led to participants feeling confident and effective in their role of caring. Participants were empowered in that they were involved in the designing of the program, leading sessions and gaining influence over events and outcomes of importance to them. The mutual-aid group program empowered participants to be able to empower other carers, as most of the participants in the present research committed themselves to starting more groups of the same kind. In that way, they will be cascading the skills and knowledge they gained from the group. / NRF

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Peer support groups (PSGs) for addiction recovery are the most common source for aftercare services once professional treatment has ended (Cloud, Rowan, Wulff, & Golder, 2007), and a significant number of individuals who seek help for a substance-related problem only seek that help from peer support organizations, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (White, 2010). In the last two decades, a different, more secular culture of “recovery” from self-defined problematic substance has led to the emergence of new PSGs (White, 2009). However, very few research studies to date have examined how more recent, typically secular, PSGs work, what aspects of them attract participants, and what participants find helpful about the group. Further, very little is known whether theories that have been applied to clinical treatment, such as the Stages of Change model, relate to the peer support environment. LifeRing is a secular PSG that views substance misuse as a learned habit that can be changed through taking responsibility for one’s actions and actively engaging with peers (Nicolaus, 2009). A particularly relevant model to LifeRing is Stages of Change, because LifeRing encourages personal responsibility and choice, does not prescribe any specific steps, and encourages individuals to build their own recovery plan that can help them stay motivated in recovery (Nicolaus, 2009). The current study examined data from 50 participants that attend LifeRing meetings on Vancouver Island. The results were not consistent with the Stages of Change framework. 4 Specifically, readiness to change and active group participation did not predict group engagement outcomes. Analysis of open-ended follow-up questions indicate that group cohesion and match in beliefs were significantly associated with greater active group participation and convenor alliance was significantly associated with group satisfaction, paralleling findings on the topic in the psychotherapy literature. Information from qualitative follow-up questions regarding helpful and unhelpful aspects of LifeRing are also discussed. / Graduate / avsotskova@gmail.com