Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End Contributor(s): Tamaki, Saito (Author), Angles, Jeffrey (Translator) |
|
ISBN: 081665459X ISBN-13: 9780816654598 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press OUR PRICE: $17.96 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2013 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Psychology - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - History | Asia - Japan |
Dewey: 302.545 |
LCCN: 2012043837 |
Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.4" W x 8.4" (0.70 lbs) 208 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Japanese |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description:
Since Hikikomori was published in Japan in 1998, the problem of social withdrawal has increasingly been recognized as an international one, and this translation promises to bring much-needed attention to the issue in the English-speaking world. According to the New York Times, "As a hikikomori ages, the odds that he'll re-enter the world decline. Indeed, some experts predict that most hikikomori who are withdrawn for a year or more may never fully recover. That means that even if they emerge from their rooms, they either won't get a full-time job or won't be involved in a long-term relationship. And some will never leave home. In many cases, their parents are now approaching retirement, and once they die, the fate of the shut-ins--whose social and work skills, if they ever existed, will have atrophied--is an open question." Drawing on his own clinical experience with hikikomori patients, Saitō creates a working definition of social withdrawal and explains its development. He argues that hikikomori sufferers manifest a specific, interconnected series of symptoms that do not fit neatly with any single, easily identifiable mental condition, such as depression. Rejecting the tendency to moralize or pathologize, Saitō sensitively describes how families and caregivers can support individuals in withdrawal and help them take steps toward recovery. At the same time, his perspective sparked contention over the contributions of cultural characteristics--including family structure, the education system, and gender relations--to the problem of social withdrawal in Japan and abroad. |