imranahmad131@gmail.com

SOCIAL GROUP WORK

Lecturer (Social Work),ISSG, University of Peshawar

Imran Ahmad Sajid

1905—Joseph Hersey Pratt• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston• Psychotherapy Group of Tuberculosis Outpatients• Problems:

– patients' emotional reactions, their feelings of shame and discouragement because of their illness, often interfered with their capacity to adhere to self-care programmes.

– chronic and cyclical conditions of patients often led to personal discouragement and depression.

• Group as a source of inspiration and support: – saved time and effort by providing information and encouragement in a

common setting. – Patients became more concerned with each other overtime, also had

positive influence on each other.

1907—Jesse B. Davis• Grand Rapids High School, Michigan• One English class per week for “Vocational

and Moral Guidance”• Group as an environment in which to learn life

skills and values

Definitions and Description of Social Group Work

• (1). Social group work is “a broad professional practice that refers to the giving of help or the accomplishment of tasks in a group setting.

• It involves assisting an interdependent collection of people to reach their mutual goals, which may be personal, interpersonal, or task-related in nature.”

• Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW, 1990)

• (2). Group work is method by which the group worker enables various types of groups to function in such a way that both group interaction and programme activities contribute to the growth of the individual and the achievement of desirable social goals (Association for the Advancement of Group Work-1948)

• (3). Group work is a method of working with people in groups (two or more people) for the enhancement of social functioning and for the achievement of socially desirable goals.

• (4). Social group work is a “Goal-directed activity with small groups of people aimed at meeting socio-emotional needs1 and accomplishing tasks.2 This activity is directed to individual members of a group and to the group as a whole within a system of service delivery.” Toseland and Rivas

• (5). Social group work is a social work method aimed at helping individuals to enhance their functioning as social beings through face-to-face interactions in small groups.

• Members of social work groups seek either to change their own behaviour1, the behaviour of other people2, or both3. The social worker in the group facilitates the way members pursue these goals by interacting with individuals in the group.

• Charles D. Garvin

• (6). Group work is about building bonds between people which depend on the establishment of trusting relationships. It is also about helping to forge connections between people who may be different or unlike one another. Fiona McDermott, 2002

Rationale for Group Work in Social Work

• Group provide an environment of mutual aid. • Gitterman (2006), a social work educator and group work

scholar, has elaborated that • “as members become involved with one another, they develop

helping relationships and take interest in each other and participate in the group activities". The mutual aid processes that unfold in a group context help group members – "to experience their concerns and life issues as universal," – "reduce isolation and stigma," – "offer and receive help from each other," and – "learn from each other’s views, suggestions and challenges".

sign of social unacceptability

underlying reasons

Basic Assumptions of Social Group Work

The basic assumptions on which group work practice is found are as under:

1. group experience is universal and an essential part of human existence

2. groups can be used to effect changes in the attitudes and behaviour of individuals

3. groups offer experience shared with others so that all can come to have something in common with the sense of belonging and of growing together

(belief without proof)

4. groups produce change which is more permanent than can be achieved by other methods and change which is obtained more quickly also

5. groups assist in the removal or diminution of difficulties created by previous exposure to the process of learning

6. groups as instruments of helping others may be economical in the use of scarce resources, e.g. skilled workers, time, etc.

7. a group can examine its own behaviour and in so doing learn about the general patterns of group behaviour (process).

Principles of Social Group Work