While the term "self-help" is sometimes used to refer to a low-cost, solitary activity, more often it refers to an organized social activity that in the United States alone involves 7. 5 million people. Alcoholics Anonymous by itself enrolls huge numbers of people and has an enormous impact on the professional treatment system for alcoholics. In the mental health field, a vigorous consumer and family movement - including groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association - involves hundreds of thousands of members and has caught the attention of the professional system. Understanding the Self-Help Organization provides detailed, comprehensive coverage of this phenomenon. This comprehensive volume focuses attention on three critical areas: public policy and self-help, participation - particularly by minorities - in self-help, and explanatory frameworks. Powell concludes this extraordinary volume with six chapters of case studies and important findings within self-help activities. Timely and provocative, Understanding the Self-Help Organization is essential reading for researchers, professionals, scholars, and students in the fields of counseling psychology, organization studies, psychology, and social work.