Poster Presentation
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Water's Edge Ballroom (Hilton Waikoloa Village)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Japanese Women Promote Services for Abused Women Through Grassroots Efforts
Hiroyo Hatashita, PHN, PhD, School of Nursing, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga-ken, Japan, Kyoko Hirao, PHN, MSN, School of Health and Nursing, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama-shi, Wakayama-ken, Japan, Karen A. Brykczynski, RN, FNP, FAANP, DNSc, School of Nursing, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA, and Elizabeth Anderson, DrPH, RN, FAAN, School of Nursing, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Describe one local response to the problem of wife abuse in Japan |
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss research needed to support empowerment of women who have been abused |
Purpose: To identify and describe the process of how a group of Japanese women formed a nonprofit organization (NPO) to provide services for abused women. Subject & Methodology: Subjects: Six Japanese women volunteers working for the same nonprofit organization. Method: Two Japanese nurse researchers interviewed six women volunteers using Benner's (1984) narrative exemplar approach. The interviews were conducted during the period between September 13 and 24th, 2003 and were transcribed and interpreted based on the interpretive phenomenological method. After the Japanese nurse researchers identified meaningful themes, the English translations were reviewed and validated by two American nurse researchers. Findings: Six women came together to share concerns about daily personal problems and formed a support group when they realized that their problems were very similar. They soon recognized that many of the problems constituted abuse and began to take concrete actions to address them. In examining the individual paths of these women, we found four common themes. The first was "stepping away from the exclusive role of family caregiver" as they sought to solve their personal issues. Then in trying to understand further, the women "started seeing the larger social issues." The third theme arose after they formed a support group and explored their niches based on their individual skills, i.e., "reflecting on how to perform some meaningful societal role." Finally, the women participated in a grassroots effort to form an NPO to provide services for abused women. Seeing themselves doing good for the community, they found that "helping others was mutually beneficial" and they experienced increased feelings of self-efficacy, self worth and self esteem. Conclusion: Participation in community-based activities empowered these Japanese women. This raised the interesting possibility for more research into how women could work together as a group to effectively empower themselves as well as the broader community.