This article chronicles the effort of a group of self-helpers and professionals to collaborate with and to develop self-help groups in an impoverished area of an inner-city neighborhood in Chicago. Several self-help groups were started in the target area of the project. In a control area, no increases in self-help activity were found by the end of the study. Unique issues that were encountered in working on this project are highlighted.
It is now commonly acknowledged that most people seek support for personal problems from their natural support systems. The first and major source of support is sought among family, friends, and relatives, with other sources including neighborhood-based support systems (e.g., block association leaders), community gatekeepers (e.g., physicians, clergy), and self-help groups. The supportive social ties from these networks can help people build a sense of community, combat loneliness, and speed up recovery from illnesses (Pilisuk & Minkler, 1985).
Riessman (1985) has estimated that there are currently about 500,000 self-help groups and that 15 million Americans have become members. The extraordinary recent growth of self-help groups might be explained by the erosion of traditional sources of support, which has increased feelings of alienation and powerlessness. Self-help groups offer people understandable rationales for their problems, new norms from which to base their selfesteem, effective methods for coping, and useful strategies for changing their environments. Ordinary citizens become empowered by the self-help process, for by helping others they obtain help for themselves. Self-help provides a viable preventive buffer for individuals exposed to stressful life events.
Mental health professionals are increasingly recognizing the value of these types of natural support systems and are developing ways of collaborating with them (Froland, Pancoast, Chapman, & Kimboko, 1981; Gesten & Jason, 1987). In addition to helping establish self-help groups (Harris, 198 l), professionals have been active in evaluating their impact (Jason, 1985); developing linkages between them and other informal helping networks ; publicizing the groups through press releases, brochures, newsletters, etc.; training members in a variety of skills (e.g., interpersonal communication, active listening, group process, decision making, and problem solving) (Chutis, 1983); and linking interested members together through computerized statewide clearinghouses (Madara, 1986).