Volunteer activities have been institutionalized ever since volunteers lent their assistance in areas affected by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. In 1998, the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) took effect, providing a corporate status to organizations that undertake specified nonprofit activities, and a "disaster volunteer center" was set up in the social welfare council. The Great East Japan Earthquake struck at a time when volunteers were already institutionalized, and this engendered arguments on the subject. One opinion was that the institutionalization of volunteers came in the way of spontaneous volunteer activities since respective organization codes disciplined its volunteers, the ill effect of which was decreased volunteer activity, However, the number of institutionalized volunteers was small and did not represent the total number of volunteers. This paper takes the position that given the diversity of volunteer activities, the ideal scenario is to keep in mind the reality of institutionalization, rather than questioning its morality and need. Moreover, it is important to understand volunteer activity in its entirety. This study factors in the perspectives of all the stakeholders involved in volunteer activities, including the local government, NPOs/NGOs, and other organizations. It tries to understand the nature of collaboration between these entities, particularly in the light of volunteers who are not institutionalized. As mentioned above, the study examines the collaboration between the volunteer who is paying attention to the earthquake disaster and the volunteer cooperation room located at the Cabinet Secretariat. The study also discusses the present state of support in disaster-stricken areas that make use of public funds not intended for earthquake disaster revival and the problem of support faced by a vulnerable government.

View full abstract

When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck, it made the difficulties that existed in disabled people's lives prior to it even more apparent, and the intensive damage that it caused them further complicated the situation of the "disaster challenged." The difficulties that people faced included (1) lapses in safety conformation standards and blocked access to information; (2) physical and environmental barriers at evacuation centers and temporary housing; (3) insufficient assistance; (4) an atmosphere of uniform "egalitarianism" with no special consideration for the "disaster challenged," and an "institutionalized hospitalization regime" that made it difficult for disabled persons to live on their own; (5) selective responses at evacuation centers and other facilities; and (6) economic disparity in disaster recovery. The "Hisaichi-shogaisha Center" (presently called Takuto Kobe) that supports disabled people with difficulties mentioned above has created various support techniques and promotes "face-toface relationships" and self-support among the disabled, where independent decision making is a core value. Hearings by the ''yume Kaze Funds" have confirmed that the post Great East Japan Earthquake period reflects points I to 5 above while the disparity in disaster recovery as stated in 6 above, is highly probable due to regional aspects and economic differences. Such aid for disabled victims by the "Yume Kaze Funds," which has been operating without applying the lessons learned from the Great Hanshin Earthquake, stresses the need for support at an individual level, and also directs attention to the need for encouraging disabled people to become support providers in Tohoku, as only a small number of disabled people live there independently. Now that the experiences of the Earthquake are wearing thin, it is imperative for the vulnerable and disabled disaster victims to practice "mutual support," and it is necessary to maintain sociological records based on analyses of on-site practices.

View full abstract

One of the main objectives of sociology, a social science, is to understand social systems. It is more than a collection of personal opinions and behaviors and poses various social questions that evoke personal responses. In a reflexive late-modem society or risk society, personal responses are stimulated and stirred up by democracy, but are subsequently reduced to certain political decisions through a process of deliberative democracy. In such a case, it is important for the social scientist (sociologist) to explain the complementarity between recent social systems and the democratic decision-making process. This paper has surveyed three relevant books - Justice for/to Fukushima (Fukushima no Seigi), Failure of Science and Society (Chi no Shippai to Syakai), and In Defense of Democracy (Demokurashi no Yogo) - and confirms that the arguments they present are based on the theory of reflexive modernization and risk distribution, which in turn become curiously "illuminative," pedagogical and therapeutic. They probably aim to make political decision more effective in a social context where everyone is free to express his or her own opinion. This paper shows that social scientists (sociologists) tend to theoretically argue and imaginatively intensify the complementarity between technocracy and democracy, which appears to make such a sociopolitical circuit all the more closed.

View full abstract

In today's society, social welfare takes various forms. Although its formation is known to be contingent upon social endorsements, the value judgments underlying such endorsements vary across generations and/or societies. Understanding social welfare thus requires us to go beyond a post hoc classification or analysis of established social facts, and necessitates an examination of the dynamic process that defines social welfare as the relationship between users and providers of welfare services. Such a definition will underscore the active role played by social service users in determining the basket of services that social welfare organizations could provide, instead of them remaining passive recipients of existing resources. Through an analysis of such factors, this study aims to examine an equal relationship that can exist between users and providers, not as an ideology but as an empirical phenomenon. More specifically, user-provider relationships have been classified into three conceptual categories, namely power relationships, exchange relationships, and mutual understanding, for demonstrating their combined manifestations. It is further seen that the proper coverage of social welfare is continuously reexamined and redefined in the light of reciprocal interactions and influences between individual and social values. Since it is a process where advocacy on behalf of vulnerable groups experiencing difficulty in exercising their rights proves essential, I contend that advocacy in the context of social welfare is paramount, not only in helping it achieve its primary objective of protecting human rights but also in the (re )definition of social welfare.

View full abstract

This paper focuses on the administration of psychotropic drugs to children who are unable to adjust to a group home setting. In this paper, I intend to clarify how staff in foster care facilities provides medical care to its inmates. The research was done by analyzing field notes of interviews with staff and observation of inmates at a foster care facility. According to the results of my research, those children who had been examined by medical institutions and prescribed psychotropic drugs by a physician were unable to adjust to the group home setting. Although the facility staff had reservations about the prescribing and administration of psychotropic drugs to the children, it was clear that they were resigned to doing so in order to facilitate operations and management of the facility. Further, one staff viewed the systematic abolition of corporal punishment as an evolution in medical care and perceived psychotropic drugs to be a means of enhancing communication between children and adults- a fact that prompted them to accept the use of such drugs. Suggestions about alternatives to the use of psychotropic drugs included creating an environment where facility staff could form closer bonds with both the children as well as the adults taking care of them, and exploring new measures including the foster parent option. However, there have been cases where the children were unable to remain where they were placed because they created problems, and there may be a case for the use of psychotropic drugs that can possibly ameliorate the kind of negative environment where children are sent from one facility to another, by calming the children down. Even so, facility staff had mixed feelings about administering such drugs.

View full abstract

This paper reflects on the narratives of "recovery" from drug addiction by the staff and residents of DARC (Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center). The focus of our paper is DARC's slogan, "Just for Today." Our data is based on fieldwork conducted in X/Y DARC. While X DARC, located in a metropolitan area was founded many years ago, Y DARC, also located in a metropolitan area, was founded in recent years, and the fieldwork here began in April 2011. The results of our analysis show that the slogan "Just for Today" represents an important concept of time in the narratives of "recovery" from drug addiction. Briefly, our study has clarified the following three points: (1) Living by the "Just For Today" maxim reduces anxiety about the "future" or the "past," and leads to a "present" that helps quit drugs; (2) The "Just For Today" maxim restores the flow of time by putting the "present" in context• namely that the "future" flows from the "present," and the "present" becomes the "past" ; (3) The slogan "Just For Today" has the potential to inspire similar narratives of "recovery" in institutions other than DARC. Finally, this paper discusses the implications of our study.

View full abstract

This paper suggests a way for the government to support kinship care givers by clarifying the problems related to the system of kinship foster care. The system of kinship foster care was established in Japan in 2002 for promoting child welfare. However, local governments did not take adequate measures to increase the number of kinship foster parents, and consequently this number remained low until the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. Soon after March 11,2011, the Japanese government changed the policy through an administrative guidance, allowing more kinship care givers to register publicly rather than privately, for raising those children who had lost their parents to the earthquake. The government also changed the qualifications required for registering as public kinship foster parents. Since September 2011, it has become easier for certain kinship care givers to register as public foster parents and thereby acquire a source of additional income; however, it is still not very easy for everyone to do so. The policy changes reveal that while the definition of "kinship" in the policy has changed, the regulation governing the recognition of public kinship care givers can also be changed easily. This gives an indication that local governments should be able to permit kinship care givers to register publicly, not only for raising children who are suffering from the consequences of the big earthquake but also for raising children for other reasons; the civil law even provides that relatives can be kinship care givers for children. As far as child welfare is concerned, the government is responsible for making maximum use of kinship care givers and for providing further support to families in need.

View full abstract

What characterizes the program PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) is IDT (Interdisciplinary Team), its collaboratively integrated team care, and a financial model that includes an incentive for home and preventive care by virtue of a capitation payment from Medicare and Medicaid. This paper discusses the factors that contribute to the effective functioning of PACE and its organizational management, using case analyses of two PACE providers in the San Francisco Bay Area. For avoiding the high-cost operation of providing all-inclusive care where funds are limited, it is important to place greater emphasis on home and preventive care. However, since it is difficult for non-profit organizations (NPOs) to independently provide every service for the diverse needs of the community, it is important to develop a service network based on community resources for giving integrated care. Such a network will help in bringing about a broader awareness about the PACE model and its providers in the local community and will help to enroll users. Additionally, utilizing the network will help meet the diverse needs of a multicultural community. The findings show that the unique care model originally started by NPOs to balance satisfaction of the needs of the elderly and economic efficiency cannot function without a service network based on a local community.

View full abstract