「ふれあう」生き方―地域で共に生きる―

Abstract

Before World War II, many people with mental disorders lived together with us in the same community. At school, handicapped children learned alongside us in the same classroom. However, in the postwar period of Japan's economic growth, people with mental disorders and handicapped children, have come to be sorted out and segregated. This was in order to treat or educate them equally, but in the process they are segregated, and our human relations deteriorate as well. The indifference arising from segregation increases the prejudice against people with mental disorders and handicapped children. This ignorance, which arises from inexperience in being with people with mental disorders or handicapped children, leads to more serious discrimination and prejudice. The fear that we will face our own intrapsychic stigma is related to our identification and segregation of people with mental disorders and handicapped children from our community. We are currently attemping a transition from hospital rehabilitation to community-based care. Therefore, we must begin by considering the meaning of our segregation, and living together harmoniously as members of the community.