Psychological Care for Foreigners in Japan
David Tharp
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation
Indepth Articles
[Apr. 10, 2009]
International Social Service Japan (ISSJ) is a valuable organization to know about if you are a foreigner living in Japan and you have psychological problems.
Generally, ISSJ provides counseling in such areas as explaining Japanese legal codes, marriage and divorce procedures, parental authority over children, visitation rights, expenses in raising children, difficulties in receiving compensation for damages, the search for missing family members, and those who find themselves in detention for overstaying their visa.
But, it also offers support to foreign community members who have difficult emotional problems. Recently, this writer had the opportunity to accompany an ISSJ social worker to a detention center to visit a person who was arrested for ignoring a long standing restraint order to stop harassing behavior towards a well known organization and certain individuals.
The police patiently explained to the foreigner that ignoring the restraining order could lead to arrest. In spite of this explanation, the behavioral pattern continued without let up, so regretfully the police arrested the individual and placed the person in jail to await trial.
Fortunately, the prosecutor in this case asked for a psychological assessment before going to trial, and ISSJ was asked to assist in this providing this help. After meeting with the person in the detention center, it became immediately apparent to the ISSJ social worker that this was a case in which the arrested foreigner needed the benefit of psychological care, rather than being charged for a purely legal offense.
This assessment was passed to the prosecutor in this case, who would ask the court to recommend psychological counseling and care rather than time in jail. Hopefully, this case will eventually have a positive outcome for the individual and this person's family.
This is a typical example of ISSJ activities. ISSJ personnel consists of a team of social workers, counselors, psychologists, and specialists in Japanese law who devote themselves to finding solutions to the complex mixture of difficulties that often befall foreigners living in Japan.
ISSJ staffs bring a deep, compassionate, sincere, caring attitude to their work with troubled foreign residents. For example, in recent years, the number of children who have no birth certificates or nationality and are born of unmarried women who have overstayed their visas in Japan has been increasing. ISSJ assists these people with their birth registration and repatriation to their mother's country of origin so that they can gain citizenship.
Every year ISSJ invites social workers from developing countries, particularly in Asia, to take part in special trainings in Japan. This training includes an understanding of child welfare in Japan and how this can be applied internationally. At the ISSJ Cambodia center, educational trainings are also offered on nutrition, sanitation and literacy.
ISSJ is also contracted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to offer services for asylum seekers and refugees in Japan. ISSJ provides support for these displaced people to find employment, housing, accessing to medical care, Japanese language education, and psychological counseling when needed. These activities all promote social integration for refugees.
ISSJ is a member of International Social Service, a world-wide organization with headquarters in Geneva. The Nippon Foundation supports ISSJ activities in Japan.
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