10.2190/SH.4.3.g E40P6N5663024232 8 A Consideration of Ambivalence and Advocacy in Self Help: The Case of Autism 271 285 20090522 20090522 20090522 20090522 E40P6N5663024232.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=E40P6N5663024232 3 Irene Carter Ph.D. University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada Self-help groups contribute to social welfare by providing continuing support to their members and through proposing changes in social policy. Society also benefits from self-help groups that create community initiatives to help meet the needs of children with disabilities. In a study of 22 parental advocates involved in self-help groups for autism, it was found that participants developed ambivalence about membership when they experienced incongruence between individual and group goals. Although many members felt personally empowered as a result of membership, they expressed frustration about wanting to advocate for needed interventions and services. Disappointment resulted in ambivalence about membership and reduced participation. Participants identified the need for self-help groups to preserve a clearer group focus that would meet both therapeutic and social action needs. These findings suggest that social workers need training on how to avoid creating a situation of disempowerment while trying to promote individual and collective empowerment.

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