Intervention by support groups and self-help groups as a way to support survivors of suicide has attracted considerable attention. Based on the trend of participation and the score of analogue scale, the characteristics of the support group for survivors of suicide in which the author is involved are as follows: (1) While there are many female members, male members are few and, furthermore, they participate. (2) With the high interest in dealing with the suicide problem in recent years, the number of members with either acute or chronic grief is on the increase. (3) As the location of the meeting caused a change in participation trend, members may be sensitive to the context of the group. (4) Members’ hopes for the group changed as participation frequency increased. Members who participated continuously tended to share their own experiences or feelings rather than to seek someone’s help. (5) The reason that some survivors stop participating with the first session is not well understood, but it may be that those who don’t have clear motives for participating are likely to stop attending after the first

time.

In this era of universal access to university education in Japan, students with various needs enter universities. As a result, the university counseling center has to provide not only psychotherapeutic, but also preventive and educational services to the university community. Previous research has shown that many students do not seek counseling even when they are in need of help. Therefore, we as community psychologists, must identify the reasons for this reluctance. In this paper, we investigated factors related to attitudes toward seeking counseling among university students, through specially focusing on self-esteem. A total of 434 Students completed a questionnaire that included the Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling Scale (ATSC). Results indicated that female students showed more positive attitudes toward seeking counseling than male students on all ATSC subscales. As for self-esteem, it had a positive relationship with one ATSC subscale: “tolerance of stigma.” Moreover, students that had previously used a counseling service and those that had attended a psychology class showed more positive attitudes. Further research is required to clarify the determinants of help-seeking behavior of students, in order to develop effective intervention programs to assist those that are reluctant to come for counseling, or seek psychological help.

The present study employed two surveys to examine the differences between Chinese students in Japanese language schools in Japan, who have limited support resources, and Chinese students attending college in Japan. In the first study, a retrospective comparison revealed that there were fewer received support resources for Chinese students in Japanese language schools. The second study, using a longitudinal comparison, found that Chinese students in Japanese language schools perceived to have fewer support resources, and that they were more concentrated in the school. Therefore, it was confirmed that there were fewer support resources for Chinese students in Japanese language schools, and they were concentrated in the school. In addition, all the comparisons of support received were done by the six conditions, three types, two areas, and total score.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to construct and validate a short version of the Classroom Climate Inventory for elementary school children and (b) to demonstrate its application for school consultation as a practical validity. The original Inventory (Ito & Matsui,2001) was shortened and administered to 2,569 students in 98 classrooms in over 38 elementary schools in Japan. The following 6 scales were obtained from analyses using the class as the unit of analysis; “Involvement in class activities”, “Friction”, “Self-disclosure”, “Task orientation”, “Order” and their reliability was supported by a=.79～.93 and their validity was demonstrated by a significant correlation to mental health scales, such as school morale. The practical utility of the scales were discussed in the context of one class, as an example of consultation with the short version classroom climate inventory. In this one classroom, the data from the short version of the scales described the classroom climate and the teacher and the consultant (school counselor) were able to understand the climate of the classroom and student’s view of the class.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between students’ contact experiences to their school counselors and their help-seeking preferences using three hundred and eighty two junior high school students’ questionnaires responses. The examination of contact hypothesis indicate that 1)those who recognize availability of school counselor indicate positive score of “Positive Aspects for Helping” 2) students those who had conversation with school counselor reported positive score of “Positive Aspects for Helping” and “Fear for Self-disclosure”; 3) Those who had read newsletters from counseling office reported positive score of “Positive Aspects for Helping”. These results support the contact hypothesis.

In order to ascertain future issues in the Japanese foster care, the present study reviewed psychological research on foster care. Future issues were ascertained by analyzing domestic and foreign studies on the following five topics: “psychological characteristics of foster children”, “risks associated with foster care”, “factors involved in adjusting to foster care”, “community-based foster care” and “family reintegration”. In Japan, there are movements to promote foster care, but it is necessary to take into account the risks for discontinuing foster care and the severity of psychological problems experienced by foster children. Moreover, in order to expand foster care, it will be necessary to develop foster care supporters, cooperate with regional medical and education organizations, and provide foster care in close collaboration with the community. In future research, it will be necessary to combine the opinions of specialists, non-specialists, the private sector, and government, and establish foster care unique to Japan.