Israeli and U.S. Orientations Toward Self-Help Groups for Families in Crisis

This article explores the orientations toward self-help and mutual support groups held by people facing family crises in the United States and Israel. People from four different kinds of self-help groups in the two nations— Parents of Children with Cancer and Parents of Murdered Children, from the United States, and Parents of Mentally Ill Children and Members of Families of New Immigrants, from Israel—report on the kinds of activities and programs that their self-help and mutual support groups undertake and on the benefits that they receive from participation. The results indicate that these voluntary organizations can be helpful to people facing family crises. Further analysis distinguishes the differential impact on these reports of the types of family crises involved and the national cultures and social service systems of Israel and the United States.