The COVID‐19 Pandemic and Families in Japan. Issue 1 (10th March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shibusawa, Tazuko; Ishii, Chikako; Nakamura, Shinichi; Tamura, Takeshi; Watanabe, Toshiyuki
• Other Names: Amorin‐Woods Deisy guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Australian and New Zealand journal of family therapy. Volume 42:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 58
• Page End: 69
• Publication Date: 2021-03-10
• Subjects: COVID‐19 -- Japan -- culture -- family rituals -- ambiguous loss; Family psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Family psychotherapy -- Australia -- Periodicals; Family psychotherapy -- New Zealand -- Periodicals; Family counseling -- Periodicals; 616.89156
• DOI: 10.1002/anzf.1438
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0814-723X

Abstract

Abstract : This paper, which is authored by members of the Japanese Association of Family Therapy (JAFT), describes the COVID‐19 pandemic in Japan from a family systems perspective. The authors are active members of JAFT and include current and past presidents and officers. We describe the course of the pandemic and the ways in which government policies to mitigate the pandemic have affected Japanese families. Challenges that affect Japanese families include the inability to participate in family and social rituals, prescribed gender roles that specifically affect women, high suicide rates, and prejudice against those who are at risk of spreading the infection. The need to shelter in place has also forced family homes to function as a workplace for parents, classrooms for children, and day care services for frail elders, which has resulted in psychological distress among individuals and conflicts among families. We discuss ways that therapists have worked with Japanese families using online therapy.