TOS GROUP WORK

 GROUPWORK
 A method of Social Work which utilizes group process as a resource for
bringing about effective social functioning of man.

 Groupwork was seen as a movement before it became a field. • From a

field it became a method and back to the field (Middleman and Goldberg,
1988).
 1910- to 1920 – realization of the significance of groupwork in adult
education, recreation and community work
self-help and informal recreational organizations, such as:
a. YMCA
b. YWCA
c. Settlement house in U.S.A. and
d. Democratic ideas that all should share in the benefits of society by following
the Industrial Revolution.

 Understanding Concepts of Social Group Work

 Social group work is a method of social work which develops the ability of
individuals through group activities. It is a different way of helping individuals
through group-based activities and enhancing - knowledge, understanding
and skill.
 Social group work is concerned with the social development of individuals.
Practice of group work requires a deep knowledge about how humans interact
in groups.

 Definition
 Social group work is a psycho-social process
 which is concerned no less than with developing
leadership ability and cooperation than with
building on the interests of the group for a social
purpose.” (Hamilton – 1949).

 Social group work is a method through which individuals in groups in social

agency settings are helped by worker who guides their interaction in
programmed ac tivities so that they may relate themselves to others and
experienc e growth opportunities in accordance with their needs and
capacities.” (Trecker – 1955)

 Social group work is a method of social work, which helps individuals to

enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences
and to cope more effectively with their personal, group and community
problems.” (Konopka-1963)

 Social Group Work is used for the purpose of reducing or eliminating

roadblocks to social interaction and ac complishing desirable social goals
(Skidmore – 1988)

Characteristics of Group Work:

o Group work makes use of multiple relationships and a multi-person
process (worker to member, worker to group, member to member
and member to group)

o The group is an instrument for meeting basic needs and

strengthening human capacities. It promotes identification of
participants with one another and provides freedom to relate as and
when the client is ready for it.

o A unique characteristic of group work is its use of programme media

such as play, discussion, arts and crafts, music, dance, drama, role
play, outings and parties which facilitate mastery of skills and serve
as a vehicle for fostering human relationships.
 Programme activities offer scope for utilization of non-verbal
communication, a particularly valuable tool for clients who cannot
articulate their needs and problems.

 Membership in the group, exposure to its influences, participation in its

activities and acquisition of a role and status within it can have potent effects
for individuals.
 Group work is practiced by group itself
 Based on humanitarian philosophy:
 It gives aspiration to help each other:
 It develops human personality

A. Historical development of social groupwork

 Social groupwork originated from the English settlements where
progressive educational movements took place
 Concept of settlement: place where poor could gather and participate in
trainings in the form of lectures, discussion groups and special projects. It
was later adopted in the US.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF GROUPWORK IN THE WEST AND IN

THE PHILIPPINES

Era of Development of Social Group Work •Pre-1930s:

 Social group work and group psychotherapy have primarily
developed along parallel paths. Where the roots of contemporary group
psychotherapy were often traced to the group education classes of
tuberculosis patients conducted by Joseph Pratt in 1906, the exact
birth of social group work cannot be easily identified.

Philosophical and theoretical influences occurred in the development

of social group work.
 Ethics of Judeo-Christian religions “Love your neighbor as you love
yourself” (Leviticus 19:18)
 The settlement house movement’s charitable and humanitarian
efforts -settlement houses helped the poor by elevating their thoughts,
actions, and knowledge. Student workers and other community members
resided alongside the working class and tried to benefit the poor by
associating with them, educating them, and discussing social issues with
them.

➢ Contribution of John Dewey (1910)

 project-based, collaborative, and experiential learning. He introduces the
idea of critical thinking.
➢ Contribution of sociological theories about the nature of the relationship
between man and society
 System Theory, Structural Perspective, Functionalist Theory,
Conflict Theory, etc.)

➢ The democratic ethic articulated by early social philosophers –

1) every person is a master of his own life,

2) democracy as freedom,
3) people are holders of power and decides to be protected from harm,
4. democratic collective action for promoting freedom and equality in the
economy and opposes what is seen as inequality and oppression.
➢ The psychoanalytic theories of Otto Rank and Sigmund Freud –
 the trauma experienced at birth is the source of all human suffering and
the key to understanding anxiety later in life; the transition from the
womb to the outside world causes tremendous anxiety in the infant that
may persist as anxiety neurosis into adulthood and
b. Sigmund Freud- human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories,
thoughts, and urges.
Identify the women and men pioneers or proponents of social groupwork and
their contribution to the growth and development of social work practice with
groups

 Sir George Williams organized the hard working laborers of Bridgewater

Draper Shop (retailer or wholesaler of cloth) towards the Christian way of
living.

 Emma Roberts- started a prayer union among her friends

 Mrs. Arthur Kennard- started the General Female Training Institute in

London for the nurses returning from Crimean war- a war between Russian
empire and the alliance of Ottoman Empire, France, UK and Sardinia-
Piedmont

 n 1885, Sand Park in Boston by Marie Zakrzewska, that the playground

was chosen as a movement in the history of social groupwork.

 Early in 1920- Mary Richmond realized the potentials of working with

groups and wrote the importance of small group therapy

 Mary Follet wrote the book “The New state” – solutions to social problems
would “emerge from the creation of groups in neighborhood and around social
interest”.

 John Dewey perceived that social group work method will be useful through
progressive education in informal settings.

 Frederick Trasher (1927) studied delinquent gangs in Chicago area

He befriended the gangs and studied how they operate within the group.
 Trasher also highlighted the role of culture that developed within a
gang suggesting that there was a common code that may be followed
my all members.
  In 1930- The first course was offered by Clara Kaiser, in the School of
Social Work at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA.

 Grace Coyle continued to develop the course. Group Work was taught
partially as a method and partially as a field of practice.

 She established Section of Social Group Work of the National

Conference of Social Work, began to clarify that group work was a
method within social work education.

 In 1936, the American Association for the Study of Groupwork was

founded •Intention: To clarify and refine both the philosophy and practice
of groupwork.

 •Arthur Swift became the leader of ASSG • In 1939, was treated as a

distinct subject, markedly with the National Conference of Social Work.

 Grace Longwell Coyle (1892–1962) was the first to develop a scientific

approach to group work practice. She was the president of the National
Conference of Social Work, the American Association of Social Workers,
and the Council of Social Work Education.

 In 1940 American Association of Group Workers was established, which

brought out regularly a professional publication called “The Group” and
several new text-books had been published about the Group Work.

Post World War II-rise in Group Work

Literature

Gertrude “Social Groupwork Practice (1949)

 Wilson “Social Groupwork
Harleigh B (1949)
Trecker

Grace Coyle “Groupwork With

American Youth” (1948)

▪Gisela ”Therapeutic Groupwork with

Konopka Children” (1949)

Historical Development
Before the Sixties: Socialization Goals
 -during American colonization, they organized Young Men’s Christian
Association (YMCA-1911), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA-
1920) and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP-1936). beginning of
formal structures of group-serving agencies.
 -focus: personality development and character-building through
recreational activities.
 In the mid-50s, the method was used in community outreach programs
(Philippine Mental Health Association) – transition to the 60s

The Sixties: Prevention, Treatment and Developmental Goals

❑ Established agencies for preventive and therapeutic purposes
❑ Government housing and resettlement
❑ Creation of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW)- formed tenants’
association
❑ UP schools of social work and Philippine Women’s University embark on
innovative programs for field practicum students.
The Seventies: Emphasizing Developmental Goals
❑ UN declaration of the First Developmental Decade (60’s) & Second
Developmental Decade (70’s)
❑ Intended to support increased productivity on the part of individuals, groups
and communities.
The Seventies: Emphasizing Developmental Goals
❑ Social workers: implemented self-employment assistance, leadership training,
day care, responsible parenthood & family life education programs.
❑ Group work was facilitated through a “baranganic approach” ❑ Social workers
engaged in community group work during the declaration of the Martial Law.

History of Group Work In London

 •Toynbee Hall: the first settlement house established in London in 1884,
many others followed in large cities in the USA.
 •Many of the early settlement house workers were daughters of ministers;
usually from middle and upper class families.
 Early settlement houses sought to improve housing, health and living
conditions, find jobs for workers, teaching English, hygiene and
occupational skills and improve living conditions through neighborhood
cooperative efforts.

Settlement Houses…
•JANE ADDAMS: was the most noted leader in the settlement house movement
in the USA.
•At the age of 25, she joined the Presbyterian Church which helped her find a
focus for her life: religion, humanitarianism and serving the poor.
•She studied the approach of the Toynbee Hall.
Group activities in the Hull House included:
❖Literature reading group for young women; kindergarten and groups that
focused on social relationships, sports, music, painting, art, and discussion on
current affairs
 Settlement House workers believed that by changing neighborhoods, they
could improve communities, and by altering communities, they could
develop a better society.
Jane Addams.
•For her extraordinary contributions, Jane Addams received the Nobel for Peace
in 1931.

SEVEN MODELS OF SOCIAL GROUPWORK

[Link] Goal Model

[Link] Model
[Link] Model
[Link] Model
[Link]-solving model
[Link] therapeutic model
[Link] Model

1. Social Goals Model (Papell and Ruthman 1966)

•The central focus of the model is on “social consciousness“and social
responsibility. It helps the community members to work for solving social issues
and bring about desirable social change.
• The principles of the democratic group process are fundamental to this model.
• Roots of Social Goal Model:
1) Settlement house movement,
2)the social movement,
3)the labor union movement, and
4)the women movement

2. Remedial Model (Vinter R.D 1957)

• The prime focus of the model is about treatment of individual’s behavior that
primarily deals with individuals who suffer social and personal adjustment in
social relations.
• Clinically oriented in approach. This model enables the group work to facilitate
interaction among the group to achieve change.
•This model is widely used in mental health care, correctional institution, family
service organization, counseling center, and school and health care as well.

3. Reciprocal Model (Schwartz 1961)

• This model has been influenced and derived from the work of system theory,
field theory, social psychological theory, and the generic principles of social
work. Often called the amalgamation of social goals and remedial models.
 This model considers the individual and group are the significant components
and here the worker roles appeared to be facilitative in nature, that is why the
model is known to be a Mediating model of social group work.

[Link] Model
• Under this model, an individual directly becomes part of the agency without
becoming part of any program intervention of support, the achievement of
challenge or improvement of social condition.
•Hankinson, Stephens is very popular for this model.
•The primary concern that was given in this model is the orientation of agencies'
functions.

5. Problem Solving/ Social Skills Model

• Solving the behavioral problem and developing behavioral skills are an
important concert for this model.
•It encourages positive reinforcement in practice.

6. Psychotherapeutic Model (Alport)

• This model is known as the person focused model which is concerned with the
person’s feelings, emotions, and relations. •The aim of this model is to
strengthen the mental health and self-concept of the person.
•Psychoanalytic, group therapy, gestalt therapy, psychodrama, and
transactional analysis are coming under this category of the model.

7. Developmental Model (Berustein 1955)

• Group is seen to be in the essence of interdependence.
• This model completely depends on the dynamics of intimacy and closeness.
• The knowledge and theoretical foundation of this model is substantially
influenced by Erickson’s Ego Psychology, Conflict Theory, and Group Dynamics.
•Looking into the nature of the model, we can say the developmental model
comprises of reciprocal, remedial, and traditional approach model.

 USES OF GROUPS
1. To use the group as the primary method of helping
2. To augment individual methods
3. To augment work with individual families
4. To augment community methods
5. To work with groups in the context of intergroup approaches in the community
level.

CLASSIFYING GROUPS
1. Formed groups are those that come together through some outside
influence or intervention. Examples: therapy groups, educational groups,
committees, social action groups, and teams.
2. Natural groups come together spontaneously based on naturally
occurring events, interpersonal attraction, or the mutually perceived
needs of members. Examples: family groups, peer groups, friendship
networks, street gangs, cliques, and groups created by peers within social
media platforms.

PURPOSE OF THE GROUP

 A group’s purpose identifies the reasons for bringing members
together.
 Treatment group- meet member’s socio-emotional needs
 Task group- accomplish a goal that is not intrinsically motivated.
 Treatment group
a group whose major purpose is to meet members’ socio emotional needs.
1. Support group- To help members cope with stressful life events and
revitalize existing coping abilities
2. Education Group- to educate through presentations, discussion, and
experience.
3. Growth group- to develop members’ potential, awareness, and insight
4. Therapy group- To change behavior correction, rehabilitation, coping,
and problem solving through behavior change interventions.
5. Socialization group- to increase communication and social skills
Improved interpersonal relationships through program activities,
structured exercises, role plays, etc.
6. Selp-help group- to help members solve their own problems
Task Group- any group in which the overriding purpose is to accomplish
a goal that is neither intrinsically nor immediately linked to the needs of
the members of the group.
Client Needs:
1. Teams- To engage in collaborative work on behalf of a client system
2. Treatment Conferences- To develop, coordinate, and monitor
treatment plans
3. Staff Development Purpose-To educate members for better practice
with clients
Organizational Needs:
1. Committees - To discuss issues and accomplish tasks
2. Cabinets- To advise an executive officer about future directions or
current policies and procedures
3. Board of Directors To advise an executive officer about future
directions or current policies and procedures.

Community Needs:
1. Social Action Groups- To devise and implement social change tactics
and strategies
2. Coalitions- To exert greater influence by sharing resources, expertise,
and power bases of social action groups with common goals
3. Delegate- To exert greater influence by sharing resources, expertise,
and power bases of social action groups with common goals to represent
different organizations, chapters, or other units.

HOW GROUPS EFFECT CHANGE

1. The group as a MEDIUM OF CHANGE- target of influence is the
individual
2. The group as a TARGET OF CHANGE- target of influence is the group
conditions
3. The group as an AGENT OF CHANGE- active involvement of the group
in modifying its social environment.

Phases in Group Development (TUCKMAN)

Stage 1: Forming - personal relations are characterized by dependence.
Group members rely on safe, patterned behavior and look to the group
leader for guidance and direction.
Stage 2: Storming - is characterized by competition and conflict in the
personal relations dimension an organization in the task-functions
dimension. Individuals have to bend and mold their feelings, ideas,
attitudes, and beliefs to suit the group organization.
Stage 3: Norming- interpersonal relations: cohesion. Group members
are engaged in active acknowledgment of all members’ contributions,
community building maintenance, and solving of group issues.

Stage 4: Performing- is not reached by all groups. If group members are

able to evolve to stage four, their capacity, range, and depth of personal
relations expand to true interdependence. The group should be most
productive.

Stage 5: Adjourning - involves the termination of task behaviors and

disengagement from relationships, recognition of other members
contribution.

Phases in Group Development (HARTFORD)

1. THE PRE-GROUP PHASE
❑ what happens and what the worker does before a group is actually
organized
❑ Private pre-group phase:
- when an idea occurs to one or more person
❑ Public pre-group phase:
-decision to have a group is shared with others purpose, time frame, and criteria
for group composition is defined intake interviews are conducted but no group
dynamics yet this time.
❑ Convening phase:
prospective members meet for the first time, still just an aggregate
-feelings of resistance and ambivalence are natural -worker assumes leading
role, facilitate the group, answer questions, and clarifies expectations.
❑ the group gets organized
❑ may be achieved during one session or many sessions ❑ group goals and
norms evolve and group’s role system begins
❑ key dynamic is union
❑ period of strong attachment to other members ❑ there may be indications of
“testing” the worker.

2. THE GROUP INTEGRATION, DISINTEGRATION OR REINTEGRATION

PHASE
❑ Integration
- interpersonal ties increase and we feeling begins -goal-directed activities
engage the members -role and status structure emerge
-task and emotional leaders can be define

❑ Disintegration
-conflicts are bound to occur
-disagreement on issues or interpersonal problems -issues of leadership,
decision-making power, status and control
-conflict if not resolved can lead to disintegration.

❑ Reintegration
-may have to restate its goals, modify its structures, establish new rules for
operating, modify norms, redefine task
-higher level of integration

3. Group Functioning and Maintenance Phase

❑ maturation
❑ social emotional qualities of giving support and helping appear
❑ emergence of group culture
❑ sense of groupness is developed
❑ the group is able to deal with conflicts in a more mature and acceptable way
❑ responds to intragroup, extra group, intergroup processes.
4. Termination Phase
❑ In close group termination is a collective experience unlike in open group
❑ 3 phases:
-Pre-termination: group is prepared for its imminent ending
-Termination: actual ending, last group meeting
-Post termination: after the group ceases and involves plans to continue

The Helping Process in Social Work with Groups

❑ Assessment
❑ Action Planning ❑ Plan Implementation
❑ Evaluation
❑ Termination

I. Pre-Group Formation Activities of Social Worker

1. Conceptualizing the Group Service
❑ Concept paper or program proposal is prepared: a. purpose of the program-
emanate from the agency’s
b. target client
c. need/problem to be addressed
d. membership criteria
e. resource requirements
f. procedures for setting up the program
g. time frame

2. Announcing the Group Service and Recruiting Members

❑ Written announcements, visits or identification of members with help from
others.

3. Preparing Logistics

❑ Personnel, facilities, and materials.

II. Individual-Focused Assessment and Planning

❑ Assessment involves information-gathering and analysis towards an

understanding/definition of the need or problem of the client

❑ Pre-group interviews: individual/group interview/existing data.

Individual Client Profile (for task group)

1. Name and other basic identifying information

2. Needs/concerns/problems relevant to the group
3. Strengths/resources and limitations
4. Worker’s observation

Group Intake is resorted for reasons:

a. effort and time-saving
b. reinforces the desire to join
c. can motivate others and help interpret the agency program

Case Assessment/Problem Definition-

a process and a product of understanding on which action is based

❑ Action-Planning-
based on assessment and outcome of assessment; consideration of most
appropriate ends and means. Following tasks:
a. Formulating goals
b. Establishing specific helping plans

II. Group-Focused Assessment and Planning

❑ Starts even before the group is convened
❑ Two important aspects of work with groups:
Group Composition: selection of group members and deciding the size of the
group
Group Formation: the process of getting the group organizes so that it can
function and move toward the attainment of its planned goals.

Planning Should be discuss during group formation:

a. Common group concern/problem
b. norms and rules
c. schedule and venue of group session
d. group goals

Three perspectives in goal-setting:

❑ member’s perspective- member’s understanding, needs, motivations or
purposes, and common ground for coming together
❑ worker’s perspectives- agency’s societal purpose, worker’s goals for
individual members and for the group

❑ group system: group goal- product of worker group interaction

-two phases: exploration and bargaining

Program Media- refers to activities, verbal or nonverbal, which group engages

in for the purpose of achieving its goals.
Uses:
1. Modify/change attitudes and behavior
2. Promote individual values such as emotional and intellectual growth
3. Influence group climate
4. Promote group interaction
5. Enhance/enrich group content
6. Promote desired group values
7. Facilitate the beginning, middle, and ending stages
of group life.

SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH GROUPS

A. Pre-Group Formation
1. Conceptualizing the group services, recruitment of members, enlistment of
community support
2. Demonstrate the worker’s roles, tasks, activities, and skills needed in the pre-
group
formation phase and in particular in the process of developing a group service
program

B. Individual-focused assessment and planning

1. Social worker’s activities, tasks, roles, and skills

2. Distinguish a critical approach to selecting practice theories, integration of

groupwork ethics, principles, values, and skills including the various roles,
activities and tasks.

C. Group-focused assessment and planning

C. 1. Social worker’s activities, tasks, roles, and skills during group-focused
assessment and planning
1. Illustrate application of practice theories, models, approaches and
perspectives in the conduct of assessment and planning for a groupwork
program
C.1.2. Illustrate the major roles, tasks, skills, techniques, and activities of the
social worker during the group-focused assessment and planning phases of
the groupwork helping process i.e., formulation of goals and plans, selection of
program media, use of extra-group activities, etc.

Plan Implementation

D. 1. Social worker’s activities, tasks, roles, and skills during plan

implementation
D.1.1 Selectively and differentially integrate the processes prescribed in
intervention models and approaches applicable to specific group-situations.
D.1.2. Discriminate how the social worker performs her roles, tasks, activities
and skills well as use of stances in various group-life situations in conducting
group. Sessions

E. Evaluation, termination, groupwork recordings and supervision

E. 1. Social worker’s activities, tasks, roles, and skills during plan implementation
E.1.1 Illustrate appropriate use of social worker’s tasks, roles, skills, techniques,
activities and use of tools during evaluation and termination phases of the
groupwork program
E.2. Various forms and types of groupwork recordings and supervision and their
purpose
E.2.1. Illustrate appropriate use of the various forms and types of groupwork
recordings and supervision and their purposes

Selection of Program Media:

1. Goals for the group
2. Member’s objectives for joining the group
3. Appropriateness in terms of time and space requirement
4. Age of group members
5. Emotional and social characteristics of the members
6. Cultural and ethnic background of the members
7. Physical characteristics of the members
8. Mood of the group
9. Availability of materials or resources
10. Worker’s skills and capacities
Group dynamics- structured group learning activities

CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF GROUPS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO

GROUPWORK
• Treatment Group and Task Group
• In-group and Out-group
• Horizontal and Vertical Group
• Primary and Secondary Group
• Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Group
Treatment Groups
 Approaches of social group work usually employed in health care settings.

1. Psycho-Educational Groups
• These rank at the top of the list of social work groups.
• Meant to help impart knowledge about a situation or condition to
patients. For instance, they could be used to teach positive recovery behavior
to heart-attack or diabetes patients as well as teen drug awareness.
• The groups provide patients with the opportunity to acquire knowledge
about their condition, discuss their fears, inquire about their
conditions, and how to cope with or improve on the condition.
 Treatment Groups
 Approaches of social group work usually employed in health care settings.

2. Skill-Building and Growth Groups

 •Instrumental types of social work groups. •The objective is to provide
opportunities for involved individuals to alter their feelings, thoughts, and
behavior in regard to themselves and others.

Treatment Groups
Approaches of social group work usually employed in health care settings.

3. Therapy Groups
• The objective of social group work is to foster rehabilitation or
recovery in incidences where patients are victims of injury
or trauma.
Treatment Groups
Approaches of social group work usually employed in health care settings.

4. Support Groups
•Also referred to as self-help groups.
•These groups work by bringing together individuals with similar
experiences.

Task Groups
• Enhance collaboration among teams that handle patients. These teams
are usually cross-discipline and therefore quite diverse.

In-Group and Out-Group

(WG Sumber)
In-Group
•The groups with which the individual identifies himself are his in-groups
such
as his family, tribe, college, occupation etc.

Out-Group
•Groups to which an individual does not belong are his out-groups
 Horizontal and Vertical Group (Sorokin, Miller)

•Horizontal groups are large, inclusive of groups such as nations,

religions,
Organization political parties etc.

• Team members have equal status and work together collaboratively,

promoting innovation, shared responsibility, and improved decision-
making.

•Vertical groups are small divisions such as economic classes.

• Vertical group is a part of the horizontal group an individual is member of
both

Primary and Secondary Group

(Charles Horton Cooley, 1909)

 Primary Group- Fairly small and is made up of individuals who

generally engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways.
 This group serves emotional needs: expressive functions rather than
pragmatic ones.

 Secondary Groups are often larger and impersonal.

 They may also be task-focused and time-limited.

 Ferdinand Tonnie’s Classification of Groups

1. Gemeinschaft- group whose relationship is characterized by close,
intimate and personal, with mutual trust and cooperation.
Example of this is family, clan
2. Gesellschaft- a group which is characterized by competition, self-
interest, efficiency, progress and specialization of relationship.
Example: corporation, workplace
3. VERBINDUNGNETSCAFT- Post-modern societies

Group Process in Social Work

 The steps involved when a social worker works with a group in order to
help with some concern or problem affecting the group’s social
functioning.
 Group process can mean the changes in the conditions of the group as
whole.......the developmental sequence that groups go through....... the
interaction processes or what goes between and among the
members...

1. Conformity
The yielding to group pressure becomes a prevalent behavior that norms
are at work.
-Expedient conformer: outwardly agrees but inwardly disagrees
- True conformer: both outwardly and inwardly agrees
We conform because:
1. We have the need to depend on others to help us define reality and to test the
validity of our opinions.
2. The presence of group goals, the achievement of which can be facilitated by
uniformity of action.
2. Competition and Cooperation
- Competition denotes rivalry while cooperation denotes joint efforts.
- A competitive atmosphere results when the members perceive their personal
goals to incompatible, conflicting, or mutually exclusive.
-4 types of decision-making process:
1. Voting – choosing or endorsing an option by vote either through:
a. Simple Majority- issues are discussed until it appears a simple majority have
arrives at an alternative

b. High Percentage Majority-compromise between consensus and simple majority

2. Consensus – The process of reaching a consensus involves the presentation

of
suggestions usually by a few members which are evaluated by the others
through group-wide discussion until someone senses that the group is reaching a
decision.

3. Postponing Decisions – When a group is unable to make a decision,

decision-making is deferred. This can mean repeated discussions, or no formal
decision is ever made but a resolution of an issue takes place through suggestion
of members.

4. Group Think- A group interaction phenomenon identified which can prevent

effective problem solving. This is a problem-solving process in which proposals
are accepted without a careful review of their advantages and disadvantages
and which powerful social pressures are exerted on a group member who voices
objections to what otherwise appeared to be consensus.

5. Conflict - Conflict means a sharp disagreement or clash of ideas, interests,

etc.
- As members have different personality traits and may have perceptions,
motives, and aspirations which may differ from what other members have.

Different conflict styles:

1. The “win-lose” conflict style- seek to meet individual goals at all cost,
without concern for the need of his opponent
2. The “yield-lose” conflict style- views relationship most important than the
goals
3. The “lose-leave style”- low concern for both goals and relationship
4. The “compromise style”- moderate degree of concern for both goals and
relationship
5. The “integrative style”- high concern for both goals and relationship.

6. Group Cohesiveness - The degree to which the members desire to remain in

the group has been established to be a motivational force for group members.
- Result of all forces acting on members to remain in the group which arise from
attractiveness of the group and the membership.

Properties that influence the attractiveness of the group:

1. Attractiveness of the members
2. Similarities among members
3. Group goals
4. Type of interdependence among members
5. Group activities
6. Leadership and decision-making.
7. Structural properties of the group
8. Group atmosphere
9. Group size

Consequences of Group Attractiveness:

1. Maintenance of membership
2. Power of group over members
3. Participation and loyalty
4. Personal consequences
Group Structure in Social Work

❑ Patterns that develop and maintain themselves over time in interpersonal

relations (Garvin and Glasser)

1. Size
 The number of persons in the group
 The right size of the group that is required to achieve defined goals is a
judgment that a practitioner has to make
 Small sized groups (treatment-oriented groups)
 Large-sized groups (task groups)

2. Communication Structure
 This encompasses who interacts with whom about what and this interaction
may take in verbal or non-verbal forms.

3. Affectional Structure
 The process of acting and reacting which takes place between people
meeting together in a small group
 Group members may develop a liking or a dislike for one another due to
either of the factors:
 Natural attraction-complementary qualities and values
 Unconscious needs-transference aspects, personal experiences
 Patterns of interpersonal relationships (pairs, triads, foursomes, isolates)
 Sociometry is the technique of studying the affective relation

4. Power Structure
 Power is the potentiality for inducing forces in other persons toward acting or
changing in a given direction.
Five bases of power
1. Reward Power- come in many forms (promotion, praise, etc,)
2. Coercive Power- examples: being admonished, being deprived of certain
privileges
3. Legitimate Power- refers to the influence resulting from a person’s position
in the group
4. Referent Power- influence because of being well-liked/respected
5. Expert Power- influence based on expertise

5. Leadership
 The ability to influence other people in some way
Major approaches to leadership:
a. Position theory- the position gives the person the power to influence
b. Trait theory- it assumes leader have personal traits that make them different
from other people
c. Style theory- leadership styles:
1. Authoritarian- leaders have more absolute powers; leadership is efficient and
decisive
2. Democratic- seeks maximum involvement and participation from members in
all decisions affecting the group
3. Laissez-faire- minimum input from leader; members are left function
d. Situational theory- leadership is a function of the situation rather that the
person or what he/she does
e. Functional leadership- believes that any member will at times be a leader
by taking actions that serve group goals.
6. Role Structure
-Role refers to the socially-recognized pattern of expectations of behavior on the
part of the person in a certain position.
Types of leadership roles:
1. Task specialist- moving the group towards its goal
2. Social-emotional or group maintenance specialist- main concern is
group harmony

7. Group norms
 Individual level: group norms are ideas in minds of what should be done and
not be done
- Group level: organized and largely shared ideas about what members should do
and feel
Different kinds of norms:
a. Written rules- are codified like professional code of ethics
b. Explicitly stated norms- stated verbally
c. Non-explicit, informal norms- neither written nor explicitly stated
d. Norms beyond awareness- created as if by osmosis in a gradual,
unconscious pattern

8. Status
  This refers to one’s rank or standing in the group.

Role- expected to do; to maintain consistency among sets of behavioral

expectations
Norms- ought to do; to maintain consistency among set of standards
Status- evaluation of worth; to maintain criteria for the judgment of persons or
positions

 Theoretical Models and Approaches in Group Work

1. The Developmental Approach

 Social development concerns: subsistence levels of living;

widespread unemployment and underemployment; lack of or
inadequate access to opportunities and services and continuing gap
between the rich and the poor; population growth; etc.

Theme for group work: collective self-help

❑ First principle: group self-direction productive uses of group
autonomy and decision-making

 “People are not seen as being sick or healthy, but on a scale ranging
from socially functional (adequate), to dysfunctional (inadequate), to
eufunctional (optimum)... continually able to move up this scale in a
life-long developmental process of self-realization.”

Major themes:
 1. It is humanistic- a view of human being by another; respect is
observe
2. It is phenomenological- content of group experience
3. It is developmental- concerned with functionality rather that
pathology.

3 most common functional modes:

1. counseling group- common life situations

2. activity group- pursue common interest
3. action group- to effect some improvement on its social
environment

❑ Single most important criterion: membership should consist of

peers

4 basic “purposive processes”

1. release of feelings- feelings tend to block effective social task
performance if not openly expressed
2. support- acceptance and affection through belongingness and
recognition of self-expression
3. reality orientation- by seeing other in similar situations
4. self-appraisal- attaining a clearer perspective on one’s self and others

Methodological principles:
1. Group members share significant common interest
2. Worker come into agreement with the members about purpose,
function, and structure group system goals=operational purpose
3. Beginning, middle, and ending stage
4. 3 basic areas of operation:
a. group goal-achieving process

b. interpersonal relations- 2 forms of behavior:

1. Instrumental behavior- behavior that are consciously directed towards
common goal efforts
2. Expressive behaviors- unintended behaviors which are emotional in
nature
c. individual self-actualization

2. The Remedial Model

 Target of this model: those who are headed toward deviant paths
 Relevant to agencies performing social control functions
 Interactional view of deviance: problematic behavior is generated
and maintained through interactions between client and
individuals/situations

 Treatment group- a small social system whose influence can be

guided in planned ways to modify client behavior
 Group- “a means of treatment and a context for treatment”
 Treatment sequence:
1. Intake
2. Diagnosis and treatment planning
3. Group composition and Formation
4. Group Development and Treatment
5. Evaluation and Termination

 Strategy of Intervention:
a. Direct mean of influence- effect change through immediate
interaction with a group member
 1. Worker as a central person- object of identification and drives

2. Worker as a symbol and spokesman- agent of legitimate

norms and values
3. Worker as motivator and stimulator- definer of goals and task
4. Worker as executive-controller of members roles

b. Indirect means of influence- these are interventions

that modify group conditions affecting one or more
group members.

 group purposes, selection of group members, nature of group

activities, size of group, group operating and governing
procedures, group development.
c. Extra group of influence- outside activities conducted on behalf of
clients
 extra group relations: behavior of person in client’s social
environment or to large social systems within both clients and
other occupy statuses

3. The Interactionist Approach

 Basic premise: there is a symbiotic relationship between people
and their environment, and therefore, the function of social work is
“to mediate the process through which the individual and society
reach out to each other through a mutual need for self-fulfillment”

 Requirement: people need each other and can work together

with
help on task they have agreed on

Four major features:

1. the group is a collective in which people face and interact with each
other
2. the people need each other for certain specific purposes

3. people come together to work on common tasks

4. The work is embedded in a relevant agency function

Phases of the work:

1. The Tuning In- workers must understand that life processes with which
she is about to join forces began long before she came, will continue after
she leaves, and will continue to be subject of many influence
2. The Beginning- the worker moves into the group and asks
3. The Task- the search for common ground
4. Transitions and endings- temporary endings, permanent ending
(evasive period, angry stage, period of mourning)

4. Crisis Intervention Approach

Is being used to those who are in a state of disequilibrium
because of a crisis
❑ Crisis- upset in a steady state
❑ Main elements of crisis:
1. Stressful event/precipitating stress
2. Perception of stress
3. Response phase
4. Resolution phase
Crisis intervention- a process for actively influencing the psychosocial
functioning of individuals, families and groups during a period of acute
disequilibrium.
❑ It involves crisis-oriented: no intake procedures, no waiting list, no
transfer of workers
❑ Time-limited work: making help accessible within 24-72hrs
❑ Crisis state- 4 to 6 weeks; max 6 sessions
2 major goals:
1. To cushion the immediate impact of the disruptive, stressful event
2. To help those directly affected as well as significant others in the social
environment mobilize and use their psychosocial capabilities,
interpersonal skills, and social resources for coping adaptively with effect
of stress.

Three phases of crisis-oriented work:

1. Assessment- evaluation of 5 components of a client’s situation;

focuses in the “here and now”
1.) hazardous event- stress-producing occurrence
2.) vulnerable or upset state- subjective reaction of the
client to the initial blow
3.) precipitating factor or event- link in the chain
provoking happenings
2. Implementation of Treatment- setting up and working out specific
task (2 categories):
1. Material-arrangement tasks- concerned with provision of concrete
assistance and services
2. Psychosocial tasks- concerned dealing with client’s feelings, doubts,
ambivalences, anxieties...
Treatment techniques:
1. Sustaining technique- reassurance and encouragement
2. Direct influence- giving of advice, advocating a particular course of
action, and warning clients of the consequences of their maladaptive
resolution
3. Direct intervention- extreme situations such as attempts of suicide
4. Reflective discussion as the client becomes more integrated

3. Termination- worker and client review their progress, emphasis on the

task accomplished, adaptive patterns developed
 Worker’s stance is active, purposive, and committed
 Target population- individual in crisis, collective in crisis, and those
associated with persons in crisis
Advantages of Group Crisis intervention:
1. Allows the ventilation of feelings and emotions
2. Group support helps to assuage pain and offers hope
3. Group sharing helps to mobilize personal strengths and resources
4. Group participation makes for mutual assistance in considering
alternative ways of coping with the crisis
5. They help each other in identifying community resources
FH Gidding’s Classification of Social Group

1. Genetic- group is a family in which a man is born involuntarily.

2. Congregate- the voluntary group into which one moves or joins
voluntarily.
3. Disjunctive- group member's recommendation is adopted by the
group. This means that the group's performance tends to be determined
by the most skilled member. This group doesn’t allow other members to
join other groups.
Example: College, teams for competition.

RELEVANCE OF CLASSIFICATIONS AND TYPES OF GROUPS TO

SOCIAL GROUPWORK PRACTICE

•According to Wilson (1976), “the nature of the framework for the practice
of group work depends on the purpose of the group that is served”.
•A group’s purpose identifies the reasons for bringing members together.
•As Klein (1972) notes, “Purpose guides group composition”.
•Purpose also helps guide the group’s selection of goal-directed activities
and defines the broad parameters of the services to be provided.

SMALL GROUP
•A small group requires a minimum of three people (because two people
would be a pair or dyad), but the upper range of group size is contingent
on the purpose of the group.
•When groups grow beyond fifteen to twenty members, it becomes
difficult to consider them a small group based on the previous definition.
•It is in small groups that people can get close enough to know each
other, to care and share, to challenge and support, to confide and confess,
to forgive and be forgiven, to laugh and weep together, to be accountable
to each other, to watch over each other and to grow together.

SMALL GROUP
•Three primary qualities: identity, goals and interdependence.
•Furthermore, a small group needs at least three members and possibly
up to as many as 12 members, so long as the group is small enough to
permit all members to freely speak and listen.
•Advantages: enhanced support and camaraderie, sharing of diverse
perspectives and experiences, skill development through peer learning,
and the potential for increased impact through collective efforts.

COMPONENTS OF THE DEFINITION Of SOCIAL

 GROUPWORK
• Social group work is a method of social work that helps individuals
enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences.
•It aims to help individuals develop through interaction in group situations
and create cooperative groups working toward common goals.
Components of social group work:
✓ Identification, recording and diagnosis of group needs and problems.
✓Resolving group conflicts through mediation.
✓Optimum utilization of agency and group resources.
✓ Collaboration between group members and agency administration.

PURPOSES, ADVANTAGES, USES OF THE GROUPWORK APPROACH

 Group work can offer many benefits for social work clients, such as
enhancing their social skills, self-esteem, coping strategies, and mutual
aid.
 Group work can also provide opportunities for clients to share their
experiences, learn from each other, and develop a sense of belonging
and empowerment.

KNOWLEDGE AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL

GROUPWORK

Psychcoanalytical Theory (Freud)

•Psychoanalytical theory (Freud-1922) has greatly influenced social group
work. And this theory perhaps one of the earliest studies to provide an
adequate explanation of human personality.
•The theory has been conceptualized that the human mind is governed by
two broad systems.
1. System -1- Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious
2. System-2-Id, ego, and superego
On this front it tried to says how the individuals are controlled and
regulated by the group living.

Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura 1977)

• Learning theory focuses on individuals more than the group dynamics in

reference to individual behavior. It gives pictures of how individuals
effectively function in the social environment.
• It also explains how the behavior of a person is learned through
observation.
• By using the social learning theory framework, the group work can
provide reinforcement to strengthen a behavior.
• As per the earlier study, there is both positive and negative
reinforcement in a group situation. Negative reinforcement is used in the
social group environment to discourage the behavior by booing.
• Thus, the learning theory provides a framework for group workers to
modify the behavior of a member of the group.
 Field Theory (Kurt Lewin)

•He is one of the noted theorists of many who study group functioning
scientifically. He highlighted different forces which influence the group.
•In order to understand the leadership style, he and his colleagues
created groups and different styles to see the impact on the functioning of
the group.
•In the Field l Theory, he argued that a group has a living space and it has
movement. It attempts to accomplish group tasks and goals by facing
hurdles in the movement.

Several concepts of helping in understanding force in social group

work:
1. Roles-Rights the duties of the members
2. Norms-Rules governing the behavior of the group members.
3. The power-the ability of the member to influence.
4. Cohesion- A feeling of group member towards one another.
[Link]-Goals and objective in the living space of the group.

System Theory (Tallcot Parsons 1951)

• The theory tries to define it as a social system and set of interdependent

elements trying to function as a unified whole to maintain order and
stable equilibrium.
• The social systems are constantly facing continuous challenges in the
internal environment and outside of the environment as well.

• The group is looked upon as a system therefore achieve its objective if it

is able to carry out functions as 1- Integration 2-Adoption-3-Maintenance-
4-Goal attainment.

Conflict Theory Lewis Coser (1973)

•Differentiated between realistic and non-realistic conflict.

•Realistic conflicts are generated from the account of the non-fulfillment
of specific demands
•Non-realistic conflicts are deeply rooted in the need for release of tension
and are not oriented towards the achievement of any specific demands.
•Endogenous Conflict- Conflict of value and conflict of authority, the
conflict between individuals and collectivity
• Exogenous Conflict- War conflict of ideology

Exchange Theory (George Homans)

•Homans(1961) and Blau (964) explains the behavior of the member

within the group. It is stated that the individuals try to maximize individual
reward and minimize punishment.
•All interaction is according to expectations and desire to get from others
in returns. Social behavior is an exchange of material and non-material
such as approval or prestige.
•A person tries to give others and get something in return. This process
tries to balance the exchanges.
Formation of Groups

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:
•The setting is related to purpose.
•For example: On 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 ought to be determined by the objectives of
each group.
•Seven to nine members are most often thought to be small enough to
allow for open discussion and attention given to individuals.
•The recommended size for educational groups is larger with groups as
small as twelve or as large as thirty.

Group Rules:
• A group that makes is own rules is more likely to abide by them and to
apply sanctions as needed to reinforce them.
• Individual beliefs and values should be considered in relation to group
rules.
• Rules should be few in number and include only those deemed essential
to achieve the purposes of the group.
• Some members may attempt to impose inappropriate rules on the
group.

Open or Closed Groups:

•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.

Short-Term or Long-Term Groups:

•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.

Meeting Days and Time:

•The day and time of meetings will be adapted to the needs and wishes of
the members as part of initial planning.
•Groups usually meet weekly for one to two hours. Groups living in
institutions may meet more frequently.
•As goals are achieved meetings can be tapered off.

Leadership:
•Many group workers advocate the development of leadership ability in all
group members.
• Some workers advocate a revolving leadership system, particularly in
activity groups with children and adults.
•Group workers continually must assess the leadership development of
their group as well as the members ability to share leadership functions
and participate as both leaders and followers.

Stages of Group
Beginning:
•Group worker sets the stage
•Worker takes time to identify the purpose
•Clearly commit to the goals and procedures
•Members need to know what they can expect from the worker
•This stage is characterized as a time to convene,
to organize, and to set a plan.
•Members are likely to remain distant or removed until they have had
time to develop relationships.

Middle:
Almost all of the group’s work will occur during this stage.
•Relationships are strengthened as a group so that the tasks can be
worked on.
•Problem solving is a term often used to describe this stage.
•Group leaders are usually less involved
•The leader may remind the group of their goals and rules and confront
relationships that may be interfering with the overall purpose of the
group.

End:
•Marked by the accomplishment of the goals of the group, production of
results, and the evaluation of the group’s work.
•Preparation for termination should begin with the first session.
•The worker will help members deal with their feelings associated with the
termination of the group.
•Help participants plan on ways to maintain and generalize the gains each
member has made.
Program Planning in Social Group Work (Trecker)

•In group work, if a program has to be of maximum

value,

1. it must be person-centered
2. it must meet specific needs
3. it should be developed out of the interest and needs of the group
members
4. it should involve the members in planning to the maximum amount of
their ability
5. it should utilize the worker as a helping person. The worker is not there
to give a program, but to help the members to develop their own
program.

Principles of Program Planning

1. Program should grow out of the needs and interests of the individuals
who compose the group.
2. Program should take into account the factors such as age of the
members, cultural background and economic condition.
3. Program should provide individuals with experience and opportunities,
which they voluntarily choose to pursue because of their interest and
values.
4. Program should be flexible and varied to satisfy a variety of needs and
interests and to afford a maximum number of opportunities for
participation.
5. Program should evolve from the simple to the more complex, with
movement coming as a result of group growth in ability and readiness,
movement from initially ‘personal’ to ‘social’ or ‘community’ concerns
should be an ultimate objective if our program is to have greater social
Significance

Skills of Social Group Work

•In a general sense skill means the capacity to perform activities.

•The Webster Dictionary defines it as “knowledge of and expertness in
execution and performance”.

1) Skill in Establishing Purposeful Relationship

a) The group worker must be skillful in gaining the acceptance of the

group and in relating himself to the group on a positive professional basis.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping individuals in the group to
accept one another and to join with the group in common pursuits.
2) Skill in Analyzing the Group Situation
• a) The worker must be skillful in judging the developmental level of the
group to determine what the level is, what the group needs and how
quickly the group can be expected to move.
• This calls for skill in direct observation of groups on a basis of analysis
and judgment.
• b) The group worker must be skillful in helping the group to express
ideas, work out objectives, clarify immediate goals and see both its
potentialities and limitations as a group.

3) Skill in Participation with the

Group
•a) The group worker must be skillful in determining, interpreting,
assuming and modifying his own roles with the group.
•b) The group worker must be skillful in helping, group members to
participate, to locate leadership among themselves and to take
responsibility for their own activities.

4) Skill in Dealing with Group Feeling

•a) The group worker must be skillful in controlling his own feelings about
the group and must study each new situation with a high degree of
objectivity.
•b) The group worker must be skillful in helping groups to release their
own feelings, both positive and negative. He must be skillful in helping
groups to analyze situations as part of the working through group or
intergroup
conflicts.

5) Skill in Program Development

•a) The group worker must be skillful in guiding group thinking so that
interests
and needs will be revealed and understood.
•b) The group worker must be skillful in helping groups to develop
programmes, which they want as a means through which their needs may
be met.

6) Skill in Using Agency and Community Resources

•a) The group worker must be skillful in locating and then acquainting the
group with various helpful resources which can be utilized by the
members for
programme purpose.
•b) The group worker must be skillful in helping certain individual
members to make use of specialized services by means of referral that
cannot be met within the group.

7) Skill in Evaluation
•a) The group worker must have skill in recording the development
processes that are going on as he works with the group.
•b) The group worker must be skillful in using his records and in helping
the group to review its experiences as a means of improvement.

Assumptions Underlying Social Group Work

In general, social group work is based on the following basic
assumptions:

Assumptions Underlying Social Group Work:

1) Man is a group animal.

2) Social interaction is the result of group life.
3) Man’s achievements can be increased, changed and developed through
group experiences.
4) The capacity to solve problems may be increased through group
experiences.
5) Group experience changes the level of individual aspirations and
desires.
6) Group recreational activities are beneficial to both individual and
society.
7) Group experience has permanent impact on individuals.
8) Group work always focus its attention on two types of activities ---
programme and social relationship in the group.
9) Professional knowledge and skills are essential for working with the
group.
10) Knowledge of social science is required to deal with the group.