Group Work Practice for Mothers of Children who Refuse to Go to School

抄録

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness and tasks of group work practice that focus on support groups for mothers of children who refuse to go to school. These mothers are now experiencing a variety of difficult situations in the relationships among children, their husband, grandparents, and the schools. Therefore, support groups which work to help members cope with stressful life events and revitalize their coping abilities may be effective for these mothers. However, few studies of such practices have been carried out until now. This time, group work practice was planned for a total of 6 times (once a month, for 90minutes), and was announced to the mothers of children who were attending a special class for school refusal. As a result, 13 mothers participated in the practice. To evaluate the success of the group, the workers focused on each member's satisfaction with the group experience and whether the group had met their needs. As self-report measures, after each practice, mothers were requested to write their feelings about it. As a result of the practice, all the mothers wrote that they were satisfied with the group experience because they could get information from other mothers. However, there remain some tasks related to their needs.