Chapter 7 Social Work Flashcards
Group Work
Group work can be defined as assisting a collection of people who are dealing generally with a similar problem or issue. Groupes can be peers, a family, or a therapeutic group. Group work approaches range from therapeutic to educational to activist. Similarly, some communities want to take a healing or therapeutic approach to their problems, others want to learn skills, and some want to head to the streets to protest. Where a group considers itself a community or not, the approaches that are described in this chapter are helpful for working with any collective of people as they try to create change in their lives.
Self-help groups
Are ones that do not have professional facilitator and may be either leaderless, having a rotating leader, or designated a leader from within the group (i.e. Alcoholics Anonymous)
Educational Groups
Educational groups have a primary focus on education, but might also have a support aspect . These groups usually have a leader with expertise on the topic . (i.e. heart and stroke victims, parenting groups)
Support/therapeutic groups
In support/therapeutic groups the primary purpose is supporting people dealing with specific problems. They are groups that have a professional facilitator. (i.e. victims of sexual abuse, women empowerment groups)
Task Groups
With task groups, the primary focus is to accomplish a specific mandate. Although social support may be aside benefit it is not the primary purpose for which the group was designed. (i.e. groups that coordinates settlement services for newcomers in a community or a personnel committee charges with the task of hiring an executive directive).
Social Action Groups
Social action groups tend to focus on broader social issues, though they may feel have a personal dimension to them. (i.e. a group organized to ban the use of pesticides on lawns may have been sparked by the personal concern around a child’s cancer diagnosis).
Group Dynamics
are what make group experience different from a one-on-one experience. they include how people talk and interact with each other in the group (communication and interactive patterns), as sense of belonging to a group (cohesion), and the influence that a group has on individual members to conform to certain behaviours, practices, and beliefs.
Communication Patterns
One group dynamic. Depending on the overall objectives of the group, a facilitator will want to establish a certain communication pattern. (i.e. dividing up the material into sections)
Cohesion
Group Dynamic.it is an important part to groups. When group members are attracted to the group and feel connected to the other members in the group they are more likely to benefit from the group experience. The sense of cohesion in a group provides safety and sets the stage for group members to interact in an authentic way with each other, it is also the reason most members return to meetings.
Group influence and conformity
A group dynamic that will affect how well a group will function and be able to achieve the purpose for which is was established. Groups where members have many common characteristics and hold shared values and expectations are groups that tend to move more quickly forward on achieving group goals. However, part of the strength of groups also lies with the member differences. Different experiences and different backgrounds can provide perspectives and insights that are new to other group members.
Forming Stage (pg. 116)
Has two primary components: Planning the group and getting the group started.When planning the purpose of the group must be clearly defined. The facilitator should think about what kind of people the group will attract. Also the length of meetings, frequency and duration of the group. If the group will allow new members or be exclusive after first meeting.
Storming Stage (pg. 117)
Where conflict emerges in the group. Differences in understanding of the group’s purpose and the group members roles and expectations can lead to friction. This is also the time when members test and challenged the authority of the facilitator. Although this can be a difficult phase in the life of a group, it is also a time she growth can occur and when relationships are established.
It is at this stage that the facilitator can be very useful in establishing a tone for the group and operationalize the group rules by encouraging members to own their stamens, listen without interrupting, ask questions before reacting, and deal with each other in a respectful manner.
Norming Stage (pg. 117)
In this stage group norms and roles become more clearly defined and members establish a beginning trust with each other. Group cohesion increases and the group moves toward working on the agreed upon objectives.
Performing Stage (pg. 117)
In this stage the group members work toward achieving outlined goals. The performing stage is where both the members and the facilitator feel rewarded for their effort
Adjourning Stage (pg. 118)
The stage where the group moves towards terminating. A group can come to an end for a variety of reasons: because the goals of the group have been met and people are ready to more on, because members are no longer committed to the purpose for which the group was established. One of the tasks of terminating is evaluating the group experience.
