Author: Melda Baysal Walsh
Social support might be one of the benefits we think of when we hear about support groups. But what exactly might we be looking for in terms of social support? The value of social support has been grouped into three categories — attachment, group membership, and collective identity, by Lehardy and Fowers (2018) — and suggests that support groups assist with emotional regulation, belonging, and integrating the matter at hand into one’s identity.
Due to my own clinical and therapeutic values and intentions, I would like to emphasize the sense of belonging and collective identity which are focal points in support groups and crucial criteria for their success. While the gains of support groups are typically understood as emotional and informational social support (Cohen 2004), the question why one, specifically while in a vulnerable state, would seek such benefits from other group members, who are strangers, arises.
Lehardy and Fowers (2018) have noted that support groups emerged in a context of progressive deterioration of social integration; may this be due to a culture of competitive work ethics, capitalism, the development of chronic illnesses, or any life changing events that lead to finding oneself at an intersection of (new) identities. Facing change of any sort carries the potential to disrupt an individual’s place of belonging, such as close relationships and group memberships, and can pose risks for ostracism, marginalization, stigmatization, social exclusion, and lead to loneliness.
A sense of belonging is crucial to mental health and well-being and support groups can be vital to navigate the latter threats to belonging and social integration. In an unbiased setting, group members can share and join each other’s experiences, discuss and reflect on challenges, and practice with each other how to seek support from others. One key element of support groups is the cultivation of a positive collective identity as this facilitates and nurtures a sense of belonging.
It is important to note that the formation and body of collective identity, while being a goal of support groups, will look different every time, can never be predicted and are fluid and ever evolving. As Brewer (2008) writes, the specifics of collective identity are constructed, and the specific configurations, meanings, and practices of group memberships develop and evolve throughout history and culture and negotiate physical and intercultural circumstances and needs.
References:
- Brewer, M. B. (2008). Depersonalized trust and ingroup cooperation. In J. I. Krueger
- (Ed.), Rationality and social responsibility (pp. 215– 232). New York: Psychology Press.
- Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59, 676–684.
- https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676.
- Lehardy, E. N., & Fowers, B. J. (2018). Ultimate (evolutionary) explanations for the
- attraction and benefits of chronic illness support groups: Attachment, belonging, and collective identity. Current Psychology, 39(4), 1405–1415. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9841-7.
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