Although it is generally assumed that the start of the child abuse prevention movement in our country is "recent", the first approach had already begun before the end of the Meiji Era. It is thought that the rise of "the concept of rights of the child" greatly contributed to the recognition that child abuse could not be permitted even when, under the "Ie" system, the relationship between parent and child was that of ruler and ruled. Under "the concept of rights of the child" the upbringing of the child was the parents' duty and the child's right, but the "Nation" was located over the parents for the protection of social order, protecting the innocent child and defining appropriate family education. In this paper it is pointed out that discussions of this topic resulted in the subject of child abuse gaining considerable attention, and the historical meaning and limits of the "concept of rights of the child" are discussed, as it found a place of importance within the concept of the patriarchal state.

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The purpose of this essay is aimed at rethinking the discourse of "Underclass" in order to bring out the way that discourse effects redistribution and show some strategies for justification of redistribution for the poor. Poverty itself is not only caused from individuals but from society in general even in "Post-industrial" society. What is different, however, is that there is a particular poverty discourse, which has a very functional effect to make redistribution for the poor unjust : this is known as "Underclass" discourse. Therefore several pieces of Underclass discourse are reinterpreted with some analytical devices in order to bring out the their functional effect. The result of the reinterpretation is as follows : Underclass discourse itself constructs those who are categorized as "Underclass" to be abnormal, which makes redistribution for them unjust. In order to overcome this negatively constructed Underclass discourse, we will apply Nancy Fraser's "Redistribution and Recognition" approach to the politics of poverty. Her approach is very useful for claiming proper "redistribution" today and is appropriate for the politics of poverty. This is because her approach has dual perspectives - economic "redistribution" and symbolic "recognition"- and contains status model. As a result, the analysis proposed in this paper may make a contribution to understanding poverty and anti-poverty strategies.

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The public assistance system mainly based on the Daily Life Security Law is one of policies through which relief to "the poor and needy" is realized. However, important subjects and the method of the system are determined by the running of the administration. For instance, an actual subject is supposed to be judged from the difference between the minimum standard of living calculated from the public assistance standards within a certain range and the amount of income identified. This paper traces the process of working out the method of that judgment of necessity, and examines the mechanism of selecting "the poor and needy". The analysis focuses on the "guidelines" that the Ministry of Health and Welfare provides to workers and the Journal of "Life and Welfare" is used as the main source to trace the "guidelines". Consequently, it was demonstrated that the mechanism of selecting "the poor and needy" has been gradually constructed and maintained while being revised. Furthermore, considering the contradictions in the operation of the system, it is thought to be necessary to analyze the policy process, including not only the decision but also the plan, the formation, and the execution of the method of operating the law.

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The welfare educational fund loan is used by poor and low-income families that are ineligible for major student loans because of a low or unstable income or unstable job or the low grades of their children. This educational fund loan has ensured that educational opportunities are provided for children from such families. In this sense, the loan functions as a social welfare service. This service, however, has substantial limitations because ensuring that educational opportunities are provided is not always linked to economic independence. And like other major student loans, users should repay borrowed funds so that they ultimately bear the burden of their educational expenses. In some instances, using this system could also serve as the source of new risks. To prevent the reproduction of intergenerational poverty resulting from inequality of family resources, a social work response is needed for those families at the same time as more obvious financial support.

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The purpose of this study is to consider various problems related to support for the homeless by investigating the living conditions of formerly homeless individuals as they try to re-integrate themselves into mainstream society. While recent government policy has been aimed at clearing the streets of homeless people and placing them in sheltered accommodation, research carried out in 2003 by Sasashima clinic, a voluntary action group supporting the homeless in Nagoya city, suggests that formerly homeless individuals encounter major problems even after giving up their lives on the street. Specifically, they lack ties to social networks whether relatives, neighbors and friends who, in normal circumstances, might be able to help them to solve problems in their daily lives. In this regard, the problem of homelessness should not be viewed purely in terms of individuals losing their homes ; indeed, it is also an issue of individuals breaking their bonds with society at large. In this regard, our investigation suggests that support for homeless people should be aimed primarily at helping them to forge new relationships within society rather than merely getting them to stop sleeping rough on the street.

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The current study examined relationships between social activities and life satisfaction among the elderly. In particular, the authors compared life satisfaction of the elderly in three groups : participants in social activities, non-participants who were intending to participate, and non-participants who were not so intending. Data of 410 persons aged 65 years and over were obtained from a mail survey in a rural area in Miyagi Prefecture. Three types of social activities were analyzed : social group activities, hobbies, and paid work. Multiple regression analyses revealed the following results : (1) Life satisfaction of the elderly who participated in hobbies or paid work was higher than that of non-participants who were intending to participate. (2) There was no difference in life satisfaction among the three groups in terms of participation of social groups. These findings suggest that social workers should carefully assess the intentions of the elderly to participate in social activities.

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This paper aims at understanding "welfare system" in the socialist order comprehensively. With three analytical concepts, i.e., social policy, economic policy, and societal policy which consists of the former two, the welfare system was examined as a kind of socio-economic system. In the socialist order, societal policy had the grand purpose of building a new society to achieve "the well-being of the people", but it became difficult to pursue its purpose by the conflict between social policy and economic policy. This means "the collapse of welfare system". As a result, the purpose was reduced to a limited area of social policy and lost its priority in the order. "The well-being of the people" in the socialist order was undoubtedly the ideology and purpose to be achieved in the initial stage, but its realization failed halfway.

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After analyzing 59 case records of people with acquired visual disabilities at a community support center for people with disabilities in "M" ward, Nagoya city, the following things were found. Clients were mostly in their 30s to 50s. The majority of them had low vision becoming worse. ADL and welfare information were the main reasons for clients' consultations. Psychological distress due to acquired disability was commonly seen across the cases. Clients had fear of losing their sight, worries about daily living, and anxiety about employment. In some cases, clients were suspected to have psychiatric disorders. The counselor who has the same disability and shares similar experiences was clients' role model and her peer support promoted psychological well-being and recovery of clients. Despite the fact that peer support involved a great many psychological topics during consultation, it lacked collaboration with medical and other related fields. Furthermore, peer support differed from region to region. It became clear that it was necessary to establish a peer support system which does not depend on regional background.

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