NCJ Number
121792
Date Published
1985
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This presentation at a workshop in New York City in June 1985 on establishing a national self-help fellowship for troubled youth reviewed four areas: theories behind self-help fellowships; how a self-help fellowship network would support professional agencies, families, and members; the structure and content of fellowship meetings; and how to establish model, experimental fellowships groups and evaluate them.
Abstract
Similar fellowships for alcoholic, drug abusers, child abuser, and gamblers focus on self-help with an emphasis on mutual support toward a common goal and on sharing successful experiences of group members. Each group has a simple set of precepts by which it operates; they develop mottos that embody the behavior that the group seeks to reinforce. Membership is open and anonymous. While national organizations provide general services, self-help organizations stress the autonomy of local chapters. Self-help groups may provide trouble youth with bonding and substitute for other deficiencies such as troubled families and an inability to develop decisionmaking skills or form friendships; A fellowship would provide youth with a sense of belonging and a common bond. In terms of membership, the fellowship will need to define the behaviors it opposes and favors. In order to avoid being stigmatized as a program for criminal offenders, the common bond that self-help groups achieve must be stated positively. An adult monitor may be present to direct members to other community services and to assist administratively. Although the fellowship encourages a "family" feeling, it will not usurp the traditional role of the natural family or other social organizations. The service they provide must be available when the need arises. The contents will also vary according to the needs and interests of the participants. The members' ability to share their experiences is critical to the group's success. The fellowship groups can be established through funding and evaluating a few model groups or by developing a set of general guidelines for the program. Task forces at the organizational meeting addressed the concept of self-help, funding, specification of the common goal, uniting precepts for development of local groups, role of the general services backup group, relationship with existing fellowships, relationships with the justice system and social service organizations, development of model programs, and approaches to evaluation. 2 appendixes.