抄録
The aim of this study is to analyze the life histories of women who had difficult "problems" The data were collected between November, 1980 and August, 1981 at an institution located in urban area and financed by a local government. The institution's main functions are to provide women who, according to their own or other's judgement, have "problem" with a shelter, and to help them reorganize their life-style.
For data, we rely mainly on the records the inmates kept at the institution but we also directly observed a number of interview sessions between newly arrived inmates and the staff of the institution. Of all the inmates who stayed at the institution during the period December, 1978 to June, 1981, the records of 297 inmates are used as valid cases.
Our analysis focusses mainly on following points:
(1) What kind of careers are likely to lead to "problems"?
(2) How are certain types of "problems" likely to influence various careers?
(3) Which kinds of careers are likely to amplify those "problems"?
Although the inmates' "problems" are multi-faceted, some of the prominent ones are "lack of the resources necessary for subsistence" "decline in roleperformance ability" "strain in interpersonal relationships" and "lack of interpersonal relationships"
We studied the following careers: childhood, school, occupation, interpersonal relationships, illness, deviance, and public protection and care. In order to analyze the inmates' "problems" we observed the process of change in these careers and also the interrelations between them.
