PRACTICAL RESEARCH PERIOD 3

MA’AM RUTH G. MERCADO

4•25•’23
PRACTICAL RESEARCH
ASSN. #4
(Chapter 2)

NAME: Hue Gaius R. De la Cruz DATE: 5.3.’23

The Lifeworld of NEETs (Hikikomori) in the Post-COVID-19 Era

by

HUE GAIUS R. DE LA CRUZ

BOB HUGHES CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

55 Katipunan St., Cebu City

Philippines
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

This chapter covers and explores the theoretical framework, conceptual framework, and

the review of related literature of this study.

Theoretical Framework

Fig. 1 - Illustrated here is the theoretical framework of the study containing Habermas’
Lifeworld Theory or Theory of Communicative Action, Jie Zhangs Strain Theory of Suicide, the
Marginalization Theory, Functionalism’s Social Integration Theory, and Coplan & Armer’s
Social Withdrawal Categorizing. All of these are ordered as follows: Background Theory, Main
Theory, First Cause Factor, Second Cause Factor, and then Explanation of Cause Factors.

To have a better understanding of the process by which the study will be conducted, a

concise explanation of the associated theories must be elaborated.

 Starting first with Jürgen Habermas’ Theory of Communicative Action or Lifeworld

Theory (1981), said theory is part of a two-volume book of the same name, The Theory of

Communicative Action (1981), in which the author continues his project of finding a way to

ground "the social sciences in a theory of language". Originally conceived by the much older and

acclaimed philosopher, Edmund Husserl, the lifeworld theory is a universe of what is

self-evident or given, a world that subjects may experience together. The concept emphasizes a

state of affairs in which the world is experienced, ergo, the world is lived. Currently, most

modern research tends to use Jürgen Habermas’ version of Lifeworld since it has a more

practical and applicable approach due to the extremely intersubjective nature of the original by

Husserl. Habermas developed Husserl’s lifeworld theory by defining it as more or less the

"background" environment of competencies, practices, and attitudes representable in terms of

one's cognitive horizon.

According to Habermas’ theoretical proposal, the lifeworld is a concept of society from

which all communication starts. Grounded on communication, the theory focuses on the

lifeworld as a collection of socially and culturally ingrained language meanings. It is the lived

domain of culturally based informal understandings and mutual adjustments. In this context, the

lifeworld is the setting for action and the resources for interpretation. Furthermore, the desire for

speech acts or utterances and messages of all communication is understanding, and all

communicative actions are established in valid claims.

Further explanation of Habermas’ lifeworld theory is that all communication begins in a

world of shared and individual experiences which consists of culture, society, and personality.
Habermas sees culture as something that people develop through communication. To Habermas,

communication exists before culture, and when culture exists, a society exists, and with multiple

societies or one, universal society, there exists a world of shared experiences hence, a lifeworld.

Next is Jie Zhang’s Strain Theory of Suicide (2012), which is based on the older, more

vague theory of Robert K. Merton’s Strain Theory (1938) which was used primarily in sociology

and criminology. Merton’s theory stated that social structures within society may pressure

citizens to commit crime. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve

socially accepted goals (such as the American Dream), even though they lack the means to do so.

This leads to strain, which may lead individuals to commit crimes, like selling drugs or

becoming involved in prostitution as a means to gain financial security. Jie Zhang further

develops and derives his theory from Merton’s to address the increasing amount of suicides in

the world and in his home country of China.

Zhang and colleagues argued that socio-psychological strain factors were more predictive

of suicide ideation and risk than mental disorders. Zhang suggests that these mental strains,

manifesting as intense internal frustration and psychological suffering, develop from competing

pressures in an individual's life, and identified four sources that precede suicide in a study on

rural Chinese suicides: 1) value strain due to unequal values, 2) aspirational strain due to the gap

between reality and aspiration, 3) deprivation strain due to relative deprivation, including

poverty, and 4) coping strain due to the inability to manage in the face of crisis. The theory's

unique strength is that, unlike many other theories on suicide and stress, it does not limit itself to

a single area of possible risk factors, such as social, psychiatric, or psychological.

 Following such is the Marginalization Theory or Social Exclusion Process. Though

such a social disadvantage or act has been around since the dawn of humanity, the first, official

and scientific publication of such was written by Robert Park in his Cultural Conflict and the

Marginal Man (1937) in which he wrote about marginalization as,” a symbol that refers to

processes by which individuals beyond groups are kept at or pushed beyond the edges of

society.” According to Liberties.eu, 2021, marginalization occurs when a person or groups of

people are less able to do things or access basic services or opportunities.

It is the process by which individuals are barred from (or refused full access to) numerous

rights, opportunities, and resources that are ordinarily available to members of a distinct group

and are essential to social integration and human rights observance within that specific group.

Alienation or disenfranchisement caused by social isolation, which is a product of

marginalization, can be linked to a person's socioeconomic class, race, skin color, religious

affiliation, ethnic origin, educational background, childhood ties, living conditions, political

beliefs, and appearance. As a result of social exclusion, afflicted people or communities are

unable to fully participate in the economic, social, and political life of the society in which they

reside. Individual social exclusion results in a person's exclusion from meaningful engagement in

society. Many factors contribute to social marginalization. Race, money, work position, social

class, geographic area; personal habits, appearance, or hobbies; education, religion, and political

affiliation are all important factors. Following this would also be other major factors such as

globalization, unemployment, and religion.

 Connecting to this theory is Robert J. Coplan and Mananda Amer’s Social

Withdrawal Categorization (2007). In this categorization, which is derived from the main

theory concerning the social condition of social withdrawal, Coplan and Amer identified three

types of social withdrawal based on varying approach-avoidance motivations. These are: shyness

(high approach, high avoidance), unsociability (low approach, low avoidance), and social

avoidance (low approach, high avoidance). Referring back to the main term of this

categorization, Rubin et al., 2009 defines social withdrawal as, “Social withdrawal is an umbrella

term referring to an individual’s voluntary self-isolation from familiar and/or unfamiliar others

through the consistent display of solitary behaviors such as shyness, spending excessive time

alone, and avoiding peer interaction. Underlying motivations to withdrawal may vary between

individuals.

Based on the research of Barzeva, et al, 2019, adolescent and early adult social retreat is

especially troublesome since social connections become increasingly important at these ages. It

was found that the normative pattern of social withdrawal

follows a U-shaped curve, with the lowest levels during late adolescence and that individuals

follow three withdrawal trajectories. These findings suggest that social disengagement remains a

developmentally significant behavior after childhood, influencing the lives of adolescents and

young adults.
 Emile Durkheim's Social Integration Theory of Functionalism explains and connects

these above-mentioned theories in conjunction with the theoretical framework’s order. Relating

to the theory to which the social integration theory is derived, functionalism is a structural

consensus theory which argues that social institutions generally perform positive functions such

as maintaining value consensus and social order. Social integration, as defined then by

Durkheim, refers to the extent to which people are bonded to other people and institutions in a

society. For example, Someone who works, is married, has children, and participates in many

activities with others is more integrated than someone who is unemployed, unmarried, has no

children, and does nothing all day.

According to Durkheim’s theory of suicide, too much or too little social integration in a

society can increase the suicide rate. Healthy societies require a balance of integration and

individual freedom. Social integration examples include developing friendships, learning the

local dialect, and joining local clubs. It is the extent to which individuals from different groups

interact with one another in an equal manner and feel a sense of belongingness to society.

People's norms, beliefs, and values make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of

understanding and behaving in the world. The collective consciousness binds individuals

together and creates social integration.

 Conceptual Framework

Fig. 2 - This conceptual framework graph illustrates processes of the observed external and
internal causes of the lifeworld of NEETs and hikikomori, what actions they take in response to
such causes, their demographical relationships with each other with respect to the researched
location, and proposed measures to address such social cohorts.

With the subject of NEETs and hikikomori being predominantly a niche and still vastly

understudied social phenomenon, the process of how a person becomes a NEET and a

hikikomori, the causes of their social change, how they dealt with social trauma and pressures,

which can include marginalization, ostracization, occupational difficulty, social withdrawal, and

reclusion, and the added effect of COVID-19 has the evident necessity of being further explored

and brought into more mainstream awareness. In line with this, the conceptual framework, as

illustrated and used above, can be elaborated with the concepts on which this study is focused.

These concepts are that of past social pressure, the post-COVID-19 Era and its preceding

mid-COVID-19 Era, social trauma, NEETs and hikikomori with their reactionary measures
regarding social pressures, the demographical relationships related between NEETs and

hikikomori, and the remedial measures used to address the study’s subject.

Social Pressures

Starting with social pressures, in a person’s daily life there are a vast number of varieties,

be it interactions with coworkers or a new law of a barangay captain, that affect a person’s social

status. Both positive and negative, these can greatly affect a person’s decisions on how he lives

his life. In the lens of social trauma, these variables are often negative in their impact on a person

whether it is a loss of a job or difficulty acquiring one or a sudden exclusion from a church youth

group or student body.

Post-COVID-19 Era

Connecting to this is the added influence of COVID-19 where every facet of life was

affected from business and jobs shifting to remote and distant forms of function to forced home

isolation. All these can factor into major causes of social trauma.

Social Trauma and Reactionary Measures

Whether past or present, the emotional upset of a person can lead him to take reactionary

to drastic measures to respond to such perturbation of his mental, physical, and mostly, spiritual

state. In today’s modern world of technological saturation, the favourite mode of most people

facing social trauma and teen-to-adult loneliness, as observed in recent research and everyday

interactions and as per Ambre, 2020, is self-isolation from fear of further trauma and damage and
is usually accompanied by prolonged interaction with personal gadgets such as personal

computers, smartphones, and such in the comfort of one’s home. Usually, this does not last for

long periods of time and the person in isolation will find the courage and strength to face society

again. Yet, for those who still do not have the drive to face their fears, they ultimately become

NEETs and in extreme cases, hikikomori.

NEETs, Hikikomori, and Their Demographical Relationship

Both having been defined in the above, these two social phenomena share a

demographical relationship since, due to popular media, especially in the growing weeaboo and

Japanophile communities associating the term NEET as the umbrella term and interchangeable

term for the lesser-known “hikikomori” thus leading to categorical confusion (Cain, 2021).

Remedial Measures

Finally, with all these concepts accounted for, a supposed remedial method, based on and

in tandem with existing remedies for hikikomori and NEETs, will be explored and suggested

which can serve to aid in recovering persons experiencing this social phenomenon.
 Review of Related Studies

For the purpose of possessing an overview of the main references and literature used by

the researcher to produce this study, this review of related literature will enumerate several

articles and forms of literature that aided the researcher in the study.

Regarding NEETs and hikikomori, the researcher chose No Game No Life by Yuu

Kamiya as one of the main inspirations for this study and for the completion of this paper. This

novel series is also where the researcher first discovered the term “NEET” personally. No Game

No Life was a Japanese light novel series later adapted into anime or animation format that was

published under the MF Bunko J imprint with twelve novels released between April 25, 2012,

and February 25, 2023. The author and his wife, Mashiro Hiiragi, adapted the novels into a

manga series for Monthly Comic Alive in 2013. The series follows Sora and his younger

stepsister Shiro, two hikikomori who make up the identity of Blank, an undefeated group of

gamers. One day, they are challenged by the god of games to chess and are victorious. As a

result, the god summons them to Disboard, a world where stealing, war, and killing are

forbidden, and all matters are decided through games, including national borders and even

people's lives. Intent on maintaining their reputation as undefeated gamers, Sora and Shiro plan

to conquer the sixteen ruling species and usurp the god of games. ( Seven Seas Entertainment,

2018). In a world that places high interest and pleasure in video games, teledrama, and the

various sorts of technological entertainment, the illustration of protagonists, though fictitious, in

this novel series serve to further illustrate the rising issue of the hikikomori and NEET condition

in exemplification of their own psychological view of the world.

 Another resource material chosen by the researcher is Tatsuhiko Takimoto’s Welcome to

the N.H.K.!, which, like the previously mentioned resource, was also a Japanese light novel by

Kadokawa Shoten in Japan in January 2002, and in English by Tokyopop in October

2007.Welcome to the N.H.K. was adapted into a manga series, also written by Takimoto. The

novel was also adapted into a 24-episode anime television series by Studio Gonzo which aired in

Japan between July and December 2006 on Chiba TV. Z.

The story revolves around a 22-year-old hikikomori, an asocial recluse, who gets aid

from a strange girl who seems to know a lot about him, despite never having met him before.

Common themes throughout the story deal with depression, anxiety, isolation, existential dread,

the hardships of life and how people must deal with them in their own way. The novel profusely

analyzes the hikikomori phenomenon, which is relatively widespread in Japan (Anime News

Network, 2018). With the story of this novel being also greatly based on the real life experiences

of prominent Japanese hikikomori and NEETs, such work is a great source of examination of the

hikikomori and NEET psyche and how one can address the study’s subject.

A more relevant source that aided in the crafting of this study is the Japan Times’s

article, “The trouble with linking COVID-19 to 'hikikomori'' by Tadasu Takahashi. This

article informs and covers the initial reaction of the Japanese public to the Coronavirus and

explores the context of hikikomori. The article highlights the changed perception of the public to

hikikomori in that instead of associating social stigma and marginalization with them, the public

looked to hikikomori as a “navigational tool” with which average Japanese citizens could learn
how to better live and adjust to a permanently home-only lifestyle in line with quarantine

protocols (Takahashi, 2020)

Yet another instrumental article is “Hikikomori: identifying extreme social isolation

around the globe” by Jason Goodyer. In this article he starts the page by this highlight,

“Hikikomori is a condition where individuals isolate themselves, but family members can help.”

(Goodyer, 2022). Thereby Goodyer presents that the most basic solution to the hikikomori social

condition may be methods much closer to home and simpler than one might think. Goodyer's

article goes into great detail and gives a comprehensive guide to the hikikomori condition, its

causes, its consequences, and the various-yet-underrated agencies striving to remedy the

hikikomori syndrome.

Supporting the research for the NEET side of the study is the web blog titled, “The

NEET Revolution: Why NEETs Will Change the World” by Lukas Cain. In this blog, Cain

elaborates on the benefits and how being a NEET is actually an asset to society despite the

societal bias and stigma toward them. The blog also goes to directly explain the difference

between hikikomori and NEETs and how their behaviors differentiate them from each other.

The article also describes the potential of both social demographics though more emphasis is on

NEETs: “They [NEETs] may be misunderstood, even by themselves, but their disagreeableness

isn’t a flaw. It’s an asset. Whether or not they recognize this, though, is up to them.”
 In terms of more in-depth, professional research, the online study of psychology on both

NEETs and hikikomori by Yukiko Uchida and Vinai Norasakkunkit titled, “The NEET and

Hikikomori spectrum: Assessing the risks and consequences of becoming culturally

marginalized” is another research material the researcher had selected to aid in further support

and reference of the study’s purpose. In the study, Uchida and Norasakkunkit publish their

findings on the collected and observed statistics of NEETs and hikikomori in the context of

marginalised populations. NEETs are also professionally defined in this article in parallel to the

hikikomori definition and aid in official sourcing for those seeking to further research the

NEET/hikikomori social condition.

Relating to both hikikomori and NEET’s social standings, the medical article “The Link

Between Childhood Trauma and Adult Loneliness” by Denise K. Ambre, LCSW concerns

one of the possible causes of hikikomori/NEET social transformations in childhood or social

trauma. The article offers the potential causes of loneliness due to social trauma and the ways or

mechanisms of which to cope with such predicaments. Said medical study illustrates eight

practical methods of which to combat social trauma and loneliness which the start of can lead to

one having a hikikomori syndrome if the social trauma victims were to get any worse.

Another similar related study that the researcher chose to better support his subject is

“Not a very NEET solution: representing problematic labour market transitions among

early school-leavers” by Andy Furlong. It tackles more in-depth with the NEET issue more in

terms of students or graduates that either could not find an occupation quickly or school dropouts
who left school in search of adventure or more promising financial opportunities and security.

Concern with youth unemployment has been replaced with a focus on those not in education, in

employment, or in training (NEET). With current levels of youth unemployment low, this

emphasis helps remind us that an increase in employment levels is not necessarily accompanied

by a reduction in vulnerability. While NEET can be used as a concept for representing

problematic transitions, it is an ill-considered concept that places an undue and often misleading

emphasis on voluntarism. Drawing on the Scottish School Leavers Survey, the article explores

the policy implications of different definitions of NEET, highlights its prevalence, and examines

the characteristics of those who are NEET. It is argued that to represent vulnerable youth

effectively we must either use a set of definitions that are narrower than that represented by

NEET or adopt a much broader definition that provides a basis for more far-reaching

interventions (Furlong, 2006).

Next is The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 2, Lifeworld and System: A

Critique of Functionalist Reason” by Jürgen Habermas states that anything surrounding the

individual’s daily life can and will have an effect on the person in question one way or the other.

Habermas writes that using the term “lifeworld” means that an individual’s perceived reality is

formed by the things that surround a member of the human race. He also states that “The

reproduction of society as a whole can surely not be adequately explained in terms of the

condition of communicative rationality, though we can explain the symbolic reproduction of the

lifeworld of a social group in this way if we approach the matter from an internal perspective.”

(Habermas, 1987, p.2). In regard to how a person lives socially, everyone possesses their own

perception of society and how one goes about understanding and interacting with people. This
perception is, as it is colloquially termed, “their own world” and thus when social pressures,

trauma, strain, and marginalization exist, the lifeworld is disturbed, disrupted, or distorted and

peace or the flow of one’s lifeworld is changed often negatively. Such is the major, fundamental

cause of most social withdrawal and isolation which either factor to marginalization or social

neglect, especially of the NEET/hikikomori condition.

The last related reference that has been selected for this research is “The strain theory of

suicide” by Jie Zhang. As quoted in the abstract of his article on Sage Journals, “Suicide is a

global public health problem, but very few theories have been developed for its etiology and

effective prevention. Presented in this article is a comprehensive and parsimonious theory

explaining the socio-psychological mechanism prior to suicidal behavior. Strain, resulting from

conflicting and competing pressures in an individual’s life, is hypothesized to precede suicide.

The strain theory of suicide (STS) proposes four sources of strain leading to suicide: (1) value

strain from differential values; (2) aspiration strain from the discrepancy between aspiration and

reality; (3) deprivation strain from the relative deprivation, including poverty; and (4) coping

strain from deficient coping skills in the face of a crisis. “ This article’s theory model is also built

on the previous work on anomie in the social theory of functionalism (Durkheim 1897/1951), the

strain theories of deviance (Merton, 1957) and the study of crime (Agnew, 1992). Though the

article states that suicide was not the major goal of explanation for said theories, their general

ideas are what he based his theory model on.

The contents of this, though related to suicide as the goal of its model, can explain most

social issues especially that of social withdrawal as another extreme result of personal and social

disturbance along with suicide. It is also instrumental in exploring and assessing the presence of
NEETs and hikikomori or any socially distressed demographic in any given location due to its

specific model nature.

 Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter introduces the methodology and research design used in investigating and

assessing the lifeworld effect of NEETs and hikikomori in modern society particularly in the

Philippines where documented cases of such people with said social condition are rare or

insufficient. This research is a qualitative study with a considerable focus on narrative analysis as

its analytical process and paradigm of inquiry. Since this study focuses on evaluating, studying,

and providing information on the growing issue of NEETs and hikikomori that affect both

secular and Christian communities in the Philippines, the main objective is to discover what

causes, dynamics, and factors occurred between people and society that caused them to transition

their lives into that of NEETs and hikikomori.

This chapter also provides an overview of the research process. It provides information

on the method utilized in conducting this study as well as a justification for its usage. This

chapter also discusses the many steps of the research, such as the participant selection procedure,

data gathering, and data analysis. This chapter concludes with the analytical data illustration

which also serves as the narrative diagram for this study.

Data Collection

Respondents’ Profile
 The respondents of this research will be limited to citizens or natives of Cebu City,

members of Cebu Bible Baptist Church, Inc., and alumni of Cebu Bob Hughes Christian

Academy, Inc. in order to better achieve the specifications of the research questions and the goals

of the research. The researcher found that this subject concerns persons between 16 to 50 years

of age, both in professional and student careers. The researcher also intends to include the

parents in the fact that their relationship with their child, or if parents are deceased, then their

relatives or legal guardian, are affected and can also be a factor in the respondent’s condition.

Collection Process

The researcher will conduct both in-person and online interviews according to the most

comfortable modality of the respondents. The researcher will assign a scheduled time slot and

will inform the respondents to be interviewed, assuring them that their identity will remain

anonymous unless specifically required by the research. Should such a scenario occur, the

researcher will be sure to ask permission from the respondent and his/her guardian or relative.

Before the interview begins, the researcher will again ask for consent to record the interview for

research purposes and documentation. The online interviews will be done through Meta

Messenger, Google Meet, Discord, or any form of digital video conferencing and

communication.

For physical or in-person interviews, the researcher would meet with the respondents in a

place where the respondents are most comfortable and would suit the appointed time slot best. In

any case, if the respondents would not be available in the scheduled time, the researcher will

adjust his timeline to the respondent’s availability. The researcher will offer snacks or any form
of appreciation as an act of gratitude in respect to the respondents’ willingness to participate in

the interviews despite their busy routines. The researcher will make sure that the questions

prepared for the interview will be easily comprehensible so that the respondents would give

accurate answers.

Timeline

The researcher will require ample time to collect the data required for this study. Thus,

the researcher expects to finish the data gathering in the estimated span of three months

depending on the respondent’s schedule, and whether they are occupied or not.

Data Analysis and Description

The data of this research will be analyzed based on coding, memo-writing, transcription,

and recording. The researcher will also transcribe and make notes of both the recorded

interviews and the in-person interviews and ensure that the necessary parts of the interviews are

accounted for.

This research is based on Walter Fisher's narrative paradigm and John Creswell's

narrative analysis style. One method of narrative research is to divide the categories of narrative

research based on the authors' analytic strategies. This uses paradigm thinking to provide

descriptions of themes that run across stories or taxonomies of stories. The second strategy is to
highlight the range of forms present in narrative research approaches. Biographical study,

autobiography, life history, and oral history are all examples of narrative research.

This research will use the first approach of narrative research for the collection and

analysis of data—narrative analysis. Narrative inquiry uses field texts, such as stories,

autobiographies, journals, field notes, letters, conversations, interviews, family stories, photos,

and life experiences, as the units of analysis to research and comprehend the way people create

meaning in their lives as narratives (D.J. Clandinin, F. McConnelly, 2000).

Life stories research is a narrative theory approach whereby individuals’ stories and

storylines are understood. Narrative analysis has many forms, uses a variety of analytical

practices, and is rooted in different social and humanities disciplines. (Daiute & Lightfoot, 2004).

The employment of narratives has two ramifications. The researcher must first establish the

respondent's readiness to communicate their story, and the value and extent of the narrative are

determined by the respondent's closeness to the researcher. Finally, the paradigmatic manner of

communication differs depending on the communication scenario.

Analytical Process

The analytical process starts with narratives. The transcriptions of the interview will be

done in verbatim. The data is prepared and ordered and the codes are identified by writing codes

and memos. The information is then organized into themes and patterns are discovered. The data

is shown using a diagram, and the findings are explained. Everything spoken by the participants

will be recorded and transcribed. Interviews will be done in accordance with the study's research
questions. Participants, on the other hand, will be given the ability to speak freely about their

extended experiences. The aforementioned coding, as well as note-keeping, are used to evaluate

and organize data.

Fig. 3 — Illustrated here is the analytical process of data from the interviews based on Ceswell’s

format of gathering data and Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm.

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