Social Work Practice with Group

• Social work with groups has played an important role in transforming the way we think about clients and about the helping process.
• Infants who are isolated from other human beings succumb to inattention.
• Learning can actually be enhanced by associations with others.
• Group process is being used considerably in the field of corrections.
• In hospitals social workers often help patients in groups understand some of their medical and emotional problems.
• In psychiatric hospitals groups of patients join together on a group basis under the guidance of a group leader.
• Many school districts utilize group process in working with boys and girls who have various kinds of personal and family problems.
• Many of the physical and mental illnesses of people are caused by social and emotional malaise and that social needs bring people to the office of social workers, psychologists, and marriage counselors.
• People not only need to be loved, they need to know that they are wanted and understood.
• Human beings are strongly dependent on interactions with other humans.
• Social work practice with groups builds on the important impact of groups on individuals and utilizes group processes to accomplish individual and group goals.
• Group work is a method of working with people in groups (two or more people) for personal growth, the enhancement of social functioning, and for the achievement of socially desirable goals.
• Group work is a method of reducing or eliminating roadblocks to social interaction and for accomplishing socially desirable purposes.
• Almost all social service agencies use group work.
• The social group worker uses their knowledge of group organization and functioning to affect the performance and adjustment of the individual.
• The individual remains the focus of concern and the group the vehicle of growth and change.
• Enhancement of social functioning through the use of the group is the primary aim of group work.
• Social Goals Model: Designed to bring about important social gains for the group. It is likely to address itself to problems within communities and is practiced in settlement houses, P.T.A organizations, and community service and neighborhood councils.
• The Remedial Model: Tends to be clinically oriented. Facilitates the interaction among members of the group to achieve change for the individual. The group supports the member, encouraging new, more appropriate modes of functioning.
• Intervention is reality focused and addresses the problem of dysfunction in the group and within the full range of the individual’s relationships.
• The Reciprocal Model: Serves both the individual and society. Sees the individual largely as an abstraction that can be studied, understood, and treated only in relation to the many systems and subsystems of which they are a part.
• The Reciprocal Model views the individual as being created, influenced, and modified by their relationships, social institutions, and the interdependency between society and the individual.
• Worker Goals: Include the plans, methods, means, and programming developed and used to help members accomplish their goals and purposes.
• Responsible for the organization, the treatment process, and termination.
• Clarity of purpose, goal formulations, and purpose are essential in group process.
• The setting is related to purpose. For children with limited self-control, activities in a gymnasium or on a playground do not provide essential boundaries for group.
• Privacy should be provided.
• The use of a table may represent a psychological barrier to interaction for some groups.
• Group Size: The number of participants in a group should be determined by the objectives of the group.
• Group Rules: A group that makes its own rules is more likely to abide by them and to apply sanctions as needed to reinforce them.
• Group Rules: Individual beliefs and values should be considered in relation to group rules.
• Group Rules: Rules should be few in number and include only those deemed essential to achieve the purposes of the group.
• Group Rules:Some members may attempt to impose inappropriate rules on the group.
• Group Rules:Designations of “open” and “closed” pertain to the timing of admissions to the group.
• Closed groups include only those members selected at the group’s formation.
• Open groups are like a slice of life – birth, separation, marriage, and death.
• Open systems tend to simulate reality and provide transferability to real life situations.
• Group Size:Adults and mature adolescents usually can accept a time limit on the number of meetings to accomplish their goals.
• Youngsters who have experienced repeated rejections may see time limits negatively and try to negotiate for more sessions rather than invest themselves in the area of goal attainment.
• Group Size:The day and time of meetings will be adapted to the needs and wishes of the members as part of initial planning.