1st Edition

Social Work with Groups Mining the Gold

Edited By Sue Henry, Jean East, Cathryne Schmitz Copyright 2002
    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    230 Pages
    by Routledge

    Hone your group work skills to make sessions even more meaningful!

    Social Work with Groups: Mining the Gold examines a wide array of varieties of social group work practice, from corrections through empowerment and international issues. It explores ways to deal with youth violence (following the shootings at Columbine High School), issues of social exclusion, empowerment practice, groups in correctional settings, group work practice with seniors, gender diversity, multicultural groups, teleconferencing groups, and education for social work group practice.

    Every chapter author who contributed to this timely and important volume reflects the “gold” to be mined in the use of groups in social work. Linda Hutton shares her first-hand experience of working with chronically paranoid schizophrenic clients who are also chemically addicted. Marshall Rubin and Carol J. Hinote explore ways of working creatively with different populations--Rubin confronts the use of structured program designs and Hinote describes the challenge of being a woman worker with a group of mentally ill men. Paul Abels and Sonia Leib Abels examine the use of narratives in social work with groups. Beverly Ryan and Patty Crawford discuss the creation of support groups for elderly people dealing with loss, and Jean East, Susan Manning, and Ruth J. Parsons explore ways for group work to advance the social work empowerment agenda.

    Social Work with Groups also explores case studies of:

    • a school-based project to prevent violence
    • a European group work plan to fight social exclusion in a multicultural environment
    • a prison-based group work program
    • ways to use gender diversity to enrich the group experience

      Social Work with Groups brings you insightful commentary from the people who are developing cutting-edge programs and expanding the boundaries of group work. No social worker who wants to function most effectively in a group setting should be without it!

    • About the Editors
    • Contributors
    • Preface
    • Introduction
    • Plenary Sessions
    • Symposium Papers
    • PART I: PLENARY SESSIONS
    • Chapter 1. Groupwork in Europe: Tools to Combat Social Exclusion in a Multicultural Environment
    • Introduction
    • Education and Transformation
    • Background of the European Seminar
    • Practice Principles
    • Conceptualizing: The Process
    • Creating Real Dialogue
    • Deconstructing Conflict
    • The Group Takes Ownership
    • Evaluation and Outcome
    • Application of the Method in Other Contexts
    • Chapter 2. Seeking Alternatives to Violence: A School-Based Violence Prevention Project
    • Overview of School Violence
    • Overview of Seeking Alternative Solutions to Violence Program
    • Program Model and Methodologies
    • Projected Outcomes
    • Chapter 3. Social Work Empowerment Agenda and Group Work: A Workshop
    • Overview
    • Part I: Empowerment
    • Part II: Group Work and Empowerment Supports and Challenges
    • Conclusion
    • PART II: SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATIONS
    • Chapter 4. Narrative Social Work with Groups: Just in Time
    • The Narrative Practice Approach
    • The Need to Question Privileged Positions
    • Our Changing Perception of Time
    • Effects of Societal Change on Group Practice
    • Narrative Practice As Response to Societal Change
    • Specific Narrative Strategies and Results
    • Mutual Aid
    • The AASWG Group Work Standards
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 5. Citizens, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice: A Prison-Based Group Work Program Bridging the Divide
    • Selection and Induction of Participants
    • Intervention Model
    • Session Content
    • Group Process Themes
    • Challenges to the Development of Group Cohesion
    • Recommendations and Conclusions
    • Chapter 6. Gender Diversity: A Powerful Tool for Enriching Group Experience
    • Diversity in Group
    • Differential Responses and Their Implications for Practice
    • Group Awareness of Gender Diversity
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 7. Group Work with Minority Mentally Ill Men: The Role of the Woman Worker
    • The Groups’ Rationale and Purpose
    • The Role of the Woman Worker in Leading Men’s Groups
    • The Role of the White Worker in Leading Nonwhite Groups
    • Men’s Resistance to Discussing Certain Topics in Groups
    • Supervision of Women Workers Who Lead Men’s Groups
    • Conclusion: Implications for Practice
    • Chapter 8. Building Bridges Over Troubled Waters: A Bridging Model for Teleconferencing Group Counseling
    • Introduction
    • Teleconferencing Bridging Model (TBM)
    • Theme-Centred Interactional Model
    • Interactional Mutual Aid Model
    • Structure of the Teleconferencing Bridging Model
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 9. Groupworkers in the Making: A Simulation for Teaching Social Groupwork
    • Simulation As a Classroom Learning Tool
    • Group Simulation Example
    • Final Reflections on Group Simulation
    • Appendix: Group Member Profiles
    • Chapter 10. Creating Loss Support Groups for the Elderly
    • Seeing the Need
    • Planning the Sessions
    • Group Response and Evaluation
    • Chapter 11. Making Curriculum Purposeful in Group Work with Persons with Severe Mental Illnesses
    • Curriculum-Driven Practice and the Social Group Work Vacuum in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Agencies
    • Practice Theory Useful in Minimizing Curriculum-Driven Practice
    • Practice Problems Associated with Curriculum-Driven Groups
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 12. Reflecting Extremes of Human Experience in the Group: Work with Chemically Addicted Chronic Paranoid Schizophrenic Clients
    • The Beginning
    • The Engagement
    • The Group Process
    • Mutual Aid
    • Behavior in the Group
    • The Ending
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Sue Henry, Jean East, Cathryne Schmitz