Self-Help/Mutual Aid Groups and Peer Support: A Literature Review

Thomasina Borkman reviews English-language social science research on North American self-help/mutual aid groups (SHGs) and organizations and some from industrialized countries. SHGs, known by many names, are voluntary, member-run groups of peers who share a common issue, utilize lived experience, and practice mutual aid. Borkman's autoethnographic approach highlights her international SHG participation. Despite initial common values and practices in the 1960s and on, Alcoholics Anonymous, the mental health SHGs, and other SHGs evolved in the US as three separate social movements that became institutionalized by 2000; their history, characteristics, achievements and supportive infrastructure are summarized. British contributors Munn-Giddings and Boyce show in European countries how socio-political contexts shape self-help/mutual aid. Research has shifted from SHGs to peer support since 2000.