This book offers useful insights into the current state of research and conceptual models in the field of self-help. There are few books available with this specific focus. The reader may be surprised at the diversity of self-help groups and how the paradigms for self-help differ within the field. The book is suitable for academic libraries and self-help professionals. --Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal "Dr. Powell's book illuminates important theoretical, methodological, and substantive issues, thereby enriching and informing self-help research at a critical time in its development and significance." --Keith Humphreys, Ph.D., Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs, Stanford University School of Medicine "This book marks a major advance in methodological and conceptual sophistication in self-help group research, which will ultimately benefit society as well as researchers." --Leon H. Levy, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, University of Maryland Baltimore County While the term "self-help" is sometimes used to refer to a low-cost, solitary activity, more often it refers to an organized social activity that in the United States alone involves 7.5 million people. Alcoholics Anonymous by itself enrolls huge numbers of people and has an enormous impact on the professional treatment system for alcoholics. In the mental health field, a vigorous consumer and family movement--including groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association--involves hundreds of thousands of members and has caught the attention of the professional system. Understanding the Self-Help Organization provides detailed, comprehensive coverage of this phenomenon. This comprehensive volume focuses attention on three critical areas: public policy and self-help, participation--particularly by minorities--in self-help, and explanatory frameworks. Powell concludes this extraordinary volume with six chapters of important findings and case studies within self-help activities. Timely and provocative, Understanding the Self-Help Organization is essential reading for researchers, professionals, scholars, and students in the fields of counseling psychology, organization studies, psychology, and social work.