How Can Anthropology Work with Social Work? A Case Study of Educational Support for Children from Poor Families

Abstract

This article examines how anthropology could work with social work. There are some studies from both anthropology and social work which attempted to cross the boundary between disciplines. This article follows these predecessors and examines further possibilities through my fieldwork experience as a volunteer teacher for Japanese children from poor families. I focus on one beneficiary and assert that the beneficiary could not develop her capability or empower herself due to a lack of sense of future. In addition, I insist on the possibility that anthropology is valuable as a problem-finding method in social work.