Social change and life-span development : Examining the entire life of Hansen''s disease sanatorium residents

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This study seeks to investigate the relationships between social changes and life-span development by examining the entire life of the Hansen's Disease sanatorium residents in Japan. We analyzed the autobiographies written by residents themselves and the records of interviews with residents including the authors, and examined the interactions between residents and the social context in which they were embedded. This study is characterized by the point that we focus on HD suffers themselves while most of existing researches on HD in social science address institutional issues. Main results are as follows:1) Around World War II, our informants entered the sanatoriums in their teens. In this time the national segregation was far too strict and the residents suffered from a food shortage. Their main interest was "how to stay alive"2) In 1948, the doctors of the sanatoriums began to use Promin in earnest and obtained remarkable results. Promin liberated the residents from death fear, but at the same time this created a new kind of problem: "how to live a new life."3) Around 1960, many of residents with relatively mild aftereffects left the sanatorium for rehabilitation. The residents left behind generally had relatively severe aftereffects in themselves or in their partner, and were obliged to give up rehabilitation. Their main interest was "how to live inside the sanatorium"4) In 1970s and 1980s, the benefits and facilities inside the sanatoriums improved, and relatively peaceful days continued inside the sanatoriums. Their man interest was "how to live their old days"5) In 1990s, the social trend toward the abolishment of the national segregation gained momentum and it was abolished in 1996. And the residents brought a suit against the government for state compensation in 1998. Their main interest was "how to recover their humanities".