From Prevention To Wellness Through Group Work

Offering some of the most advanced thinking and practice in the arena of social work with groups, From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work synthesizes the discussions and findings from the Annual Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG). Gathered here are different ideas, techniques, and research (with a focus on prevention) for group work with seniors, adults, teens, and children. With a mix of authors from social work academia and practice, this book gives you groundbreaking theoretical pieces as well as emerging skills and techniques in group work. If you attended the conference you will refer to this book as a guide to the information presented. If you were not in attendance you need this book to discover what you missed! The two primary chapters in From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work provide a look into constructivism and the power model and the empowerment approach as a paradigm for international social work practice. Other pertinent topics you learn about include: conflict management in group treatment a social skills program for emotionally disturbed children bullying and scapegoating in groups groups for persons who have experienced transplants groups for persons with AIDS the intersection of different realities in the group setting using poetry to revive traditional practice methods, theories, and values mutual aid, democratic participation, power sharing, and consciousness raising From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work also shows you how group experiences prevent breakdown and encourage wellness for older adults in senior centers and retirement communities; the definition, scope, and usefulness of psychoeducational groups; how group-based methods can enrich research; and how monitoring group practice can strengthen your effectiveness and credibility. You’ll find the book’s consistent focus on prevention while providing ways to improve both group work practice and research through cooperative efforts most helpful.

Offering some of the most advanced thinking and practice in the arena of social work with groups, From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work synthesizes the discussions and findings from the Annual Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG). Gathered here are different ideas, techniques, and research (with a focus on prevention) for group work with seniors, adults, teens, and children. With a mix of authors from social work academia and practice, this book gives you groundbreaking theoretical pieces as well as emerging skills and techniques in group work. If you attended the conference you will refer to this book as a guide to the information presented. If you were not in attendance you need this book to discover what you missed! The two primary chapters in From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work provide a look into constructivism and the power model and the empowerment approach as a paradigm for international social work practice. Other pertinent topics you learn about include: conflict management in group treatment a social skills program for emotionally disturbed children bullying and scapegoating in groups groups for persons who have experienced transplants groups for persons with AIDS the intersection of different realities in the group setting using poetry to revive traditional practice methods, theories, and values mutual aid, democratic participation, power sharing, and consciousness raising From Prevention to Wellness Through Group Work also shows you how group experiences prevent breakdown and encourage wellness for older adults in senior centers and retirement communities; the definition, scope, and usefulness of psychoeducational groups; how group-based methods can enrich research; and how monitoring group practice can strengthen your effectiveness and credibility. You’ll find the book’s consistent focus on prevention while providing ways to improve both group work practice and research through cooperative efforts most helpful.

Examine group work's roots and fundamental beliefs to get a glimpse of the future For more than 80 years, social group work has survived difficult times—a testament to the persistence of its practitioners as well as the strength of its methods. Growth and Development Through Group Work chronicles the evolution of this groundbreaking practice through a collection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the 23rd Annual International Symposium on Social Work with Groups. The book examines practice, policy, and education issues in specific settings and populations from both theoretical and historical perspectives. Presented in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, the papers that comprise Growth and Development Through Group Work reflect a heightened awareness of the importance of social action group work—now, and in the future. The book represents the best of social work’s tradition of social reform and concern for oppressed people, never straying far from the concept of the group, with its multiple helping relationships, as the primary source of change. A comprehensive overview of the field in international, intercultural, and cross-gender contexts, Growth and Development Through Group Work is equally effective for coursework or independent reading. Topics addressed in Growth and Development Through Group Work include: contributions of the late Ruby B. Pernell to the development of social group work research in support of group work education and practice group work in Germany-its development from American roots and its current advances social justice as a major objective of group work practice teaching group work mutual aid in support groups for particularly sensitive health problems psychoeducational group work contributions from Hull House as guides for the future of social group work Growth and Development Through Group Work is an invaluable resource for clinicians, neighborhood and community activists, educators and students, researchers, therapists, administrators, and anyone working in policy and/or program development.

The contributors to this volume examine the role of mutual aid groups and social workers in helping members of oppressed, vulnerable, and resilient populations regain control over their lives. The chapters reveal the ways in which mutual aid processes help individuals overcome social and emotional trauma in contemporary society by reducing isolation, universalizing individual problems, and mitigating stigma. Using the life cycle as a framework the editors establish a theoretical model for practice and demonstrate how social workers as group leaders can foster the healing and empowering process of mutual aid. The contributors also consider the fundamentals of the mutual aid process, the institutional benefits of group service, and specific clinical examples of mutual aid groups. Each chapter offers detailed case materials that illustrate both group work skills and developmental issues for a variety of populations and settings, including HIV-positive and AIDS patients, the homeless, and perpetrators and victims of sexual abuse and family violence. New chapters in this completely revised and updated third edition illustrate the power of mutual aid processes in dealing with children traumatized by the events of September 11, adult survivors of sexual abuse, parents with developmentally challenged children, people with AIDS in substance recovery, and mentally ill older adults.

Help change the world by bringing ideas of social justice into your group work practice! Social workers who use hip-hop music to reach out to troubled adolescents. Practitioners who compare First Nations talking circles with social work practice with groups. A retired professor who transforms the way her fellow senior living center residents participate in their world. Fathers of children with spina bifida who help one another through an online discussion group. These and other examples you’ll discover in Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change will help you to assist groups to gain a sense of empowerment and create change in their own lives and communities. In Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change you’ll also find: definitions of social justice within the context of social work a proposal to help focus on social justice in teaching guidelines for group facilitators making decisions about self-disclosure studies of innovative group work discussion of the challenges to achieving social justice in group work valuable ways to ground social group work in rich cultural traditions This new book rides the crest of the growing wave of justice in social work with groups. Culled from the proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, it gives you the innovations and current thinking of professionals who, while coming from different cultural and professional backgrounds, are focused on helping all people enjoy the same rights and opportunities. If you want to use group work to challenge social inequality, Social Work with Groups will be a welcome addition to your library. Social action that gets results has to start somewhere—let it begin with you!

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!

Group work is a popular and widely used social work method. Focusing particularly on the central role of mutual aid in effective group work, this text presents the theoretical base, outlines core principles, and introduces the skills for translating those theories and principles into practice. A Mutual-Aid Model for Social Work with Groups will help readers to catalyze the strengths of group members such that they become better problem solvers in all areas of life from the playroom to the boardroom. Increased coverage of evaluation and evidence-based practice speaks to the field’s growing concern with monitoring process and assessing progress. The book also includes: worker-based obstacles to mutual aid, their impact, and their antidotes pre-group planning including new discussion on curriculum groups group building by prioritizing certain goals and norms in the new group the significance of time and place on mutual aid and the role of the group worker maintaining mutual aid during so-called individual problem solving an expanded discussion of anti-oppression and anti-oppressive practice unlocking a group’s potential to make difference and conflict useful special considerations in working with time-limited, open-ended, and very large groups. Case examples are used throughout to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and exercises for class or field, help learners to immediately apply conceptual material to their practice. All resources required to carry out the exercises are contained in over 20 appendices at the end of the book. Key points at the end of each chapter recap the major concepts presented, and a roster of recommended reading for each chapter points the reader to further resources on each topic. Designed to support ethical and successful practice, this textbook is an essential addition to the library of any social work student or human service practitioner working with groups.

Thinking about gender can enrich the work of all groupwork practitioners and can make a real difference in people's lives. Based on practice experience in both the UK and the USA, Gender and Groupwork brings together the best of groupwork knowledge, skills and values in a true transatlantic partnership. The book summarises the history of gender-based groups for both women and men and outlines a wide range of exciting and challenging examples of groups in different contexts. Often moving, and always engrossing, these accounts encompass groups for older women and women facing inequalities in health care. Innovative work with homeless people, with caregivers and lesbian and gay youth is described in detail and there is a particular focus on domestic violence, where groups can often the intervention of choice. Gender and Groupwork demonstrates that, despite the challenges of post-structuralism and postmodernism, the practice of groupwork is alive and well. It provides new ideas and new models to help move practice forward, making it a welcome addition to the groupwork literature.