虚拟社区是否增进社区在线参与？一个基于日常观测数据的社会网络分析案例

对互联网技术的使用是否会增进公民的社区参与一直是一个具有争议性的问题,对于网络社区在其中如何发挥作用的相关研究却寥寥无几。本文利用大数据,采用一个案例,从社会网络分析的视角对此进行研究。通过区分不同性质的讨论网后发现,网络社区对业主的网络公民参与存在正效应,不同议题的讨论网关系可以相互转化,从而促进网络参与。     

Group work is … powerful! This stuff changes … lives: training on group processes for facilitators of curriculum-based groups

ABSTRACT

This article describes a four-year group work training project conducted with facilitators of curriculum-based parenting groups who had not been trained in group work or group processes. A total 14 group facilitators and 144 group members from 34 groups were involved in the training and the mixed method evaluation. Participants described how the training modified their group facilitation, helping them understand that the groups themselves as well as the curricula were informative and transformative, and that group members as well as group facilitators had roles. Further, facilitators indicated that the training resulted in fundamental change in their self-perceptions from being simply purveyors of a parenting curriculum to empathic agents of change as well.     

The Group Topic Evaluation Scale: Preliminary Validity,Reliability, and Use in Psychoeducational Groups

Process measures are important for evaluation of client reaction to psychoeducational group topics. Few scales have been created for measuring client responses in this setting. This study utilized secondary data to determine the initial validity of a Group Topic Evaluation Scale. Group members (N = 190) in a large, urban Driving Under the Influence program evaluated six different group topics using a created scale for a total of 623 responses. Principal component analysis found one factor comprising six items with good reliability. Two of the six topics scored significantly higher, indicating more meaningfulness to the clients. Implications are discussed.     

Friendship Across the Life Cycle

Abstract

Using a group work model, this article discusses a short term group for older women developed to explore the importance of friendship in late life. In collaboration with group leaders, group members determined weekly topics that explored the significance of friendship through the life cycle. Social work group practice that focuses on the meaning and development of friendship for and with older women is presented as an effective therapeutic intervention for practitioners in settings such as community mental health clinics, senior centers, elderly housing, home care agencies and nursing homes.     

A Punch,A Stitch,A Bell: The Power of Nondeliberative Practice in Social Group Work

ABSTRACT

This article examines the nondeliberative approach in social work with groups through five qualities inherent in the modality. It explores how the practice stands out as unique and valuable within the field: how it taps what other modalities may not by truly meeting the members where they are in space and time. Using examples taken from an array of social group work programs spanning 20 years, it illustrates how the nondeliberative approach takes place in diverse locations and utilizes diverse mediums and modes of communication. Special recognition is given to Norma Lang who articulated the theory about this approach.     

Using the End of Groups as an Intervention at End-of-Life

SUMMARY

Support groups are an effective therapy at end-of-life. Patients with life-threatening illness and caregivers of the terminally ill have benefited from the mutual aid process provided by groups. Mutual aid is fostered by talking about feelings and developing group cohesion. Difficulty discussing the multiple issues of loss faced at end-of-life, including death and dying, can stifle sharing and impede this process. Group endings offer a unique opportunity to symbolically introduce these topics. This article explores the utilization of the group developmental stage of termination when facilitating groups for this population.     

Addressing the Vision Challenges of Residents at a Retirement Community: Collaborative Research with a Community Partner

ABSTRACT

Staff members at a community retirement village were concerned about the demise of a support group for residents with vision loss, and requested help developing effective services for residents with vision challenges. This study explored past barriers to support group participation, as they were perceived by residents, family members, and employees. The community partner worked collaboratively with the researcher in all phases of the study. Questionnaires were designed to elicit demographic data, diagnosed vision problems, level of adjustment to vision loss, well-being, and motivation for attending institutional programs about vision challenges. Residents responded to standardized vision and depression scales; qualitative questions were posed to all 3 groups concerning motivations for resident participation in program activities. Results indicated that, although many residents had diagnosed vision conditions, they were, in general, coping well with vision loss and did not report depressive symptoms. Participants considered ongoing personal contact and follow-up, a group design that offered the choice of educational presentations and/or process discussions, and individualized assistance with practical challenges to be critical to an effective program. This case study, utilizing a collaborative research process, generated requests for expanded social work services and an increased valuing of the social work role.     

“They Don't Want to Hear Us”

Abstract

This study used focus groups to understand Hispanic elders' and adult children's concerns about end-of-life planning. Ten older persons participated in the elders group, and ten adult children in a separate group. Themes in both groups included communication, control, burden, spirituality, religious issues, and importance of family relationships. Communication regarding end-of-life planning was of particular importance to both elders and adult children. The most striking indication of the challenges in communication about end-of-life issues is the insistence by both the elders and the adult children that their children/parents do not want to have these discussions.     

Response Agreement Rates Between Child Welfare–Involved Youth and Their Caregivers

ABSTRACT

Data were collected from 40 youth and 37 caregivers, which represented 57 distinct youth and 20 youth–caregiver dyads to measure the level of agreement between youth self-report and their caregivers on a variety of topics. Topics included: the youth's past placements, service use and needs, experiences in the child welfare system, and the youth's emotional problems and social behaviors. Results indicated high agreement between youth and caregiver proxy related to placement history, service use, the restrictiveness of the current environment, and community safety; results indicated low levels of agreement for youth emotional difficulties and prosocial behaviors. Qualitative data were used to further identify some of the differences noted. Overall, the findings support prior research that shows higher agreement within youth–caregiver dyads for objective measures as opposed to subjective and private ones. Implications for future research are discussed, and methodological challenges related to this study are identified.     

It Is Not Always Easy to Sit on Your Mouth

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the use of small groups in an after-school tutoring program for children, ages 5 to 12. Five group work principles are emphasized: (1) beginning where the group members are and drawing upon their interests; (2) enhancing mutual aid among group members; (3) taking the stages of group development into consideration when planning activities; (4) using the leader's role in ways that encourage and are helpful to group members; and (5) believing that members have something valuable to contribute to the group. Incorporation of group work principles into academic enrichment programs, rather than reliance solely on one-to-one tutoring, is urged.     

Single-Session Groups: Issues for Social Workers

ABSRACT

Single-session groups in hospital settings provide a lifeline to overwhelmed patients and family members. Although these groups are becoming more common, they present special issues for the social worker committed to making them as useful as possible to participants. This paper highlights four major issues: handling ongoing recruitment, allowing sufficient time for the beginning phase, setting realistic goals, and dealing with heterogeneous group membership. Illustrative examples are based on the author's experience with single-session groups for family members of liver transplant patients. Learning more about the special nature of single-session groups will help workers prepare for them and also capitalize on the unique opportunities they offer.     

To Know Beyond Listening

ABSTRACT

In music production, “monitoring” refers traditionally to audile strategies intended to reveal the “true” sound of mediated audio. Here, it is expanded to include new, digital technologies intended to better know and control the record-object beyond what listening and listening technologies allow. Surveying traditional, contemporary, and emerging tools of record production and distribution, this essay addresses three types of monitoring: audio, visual, and data.

In sum, monitoring entails the supplementation and subversion of the ear through protocols promising to surmount the biases and distortions of audio media. Key technologies include reference speakers, room correction systems, digital audio workstations, open mixes, pre-sets, social networking sites, and automatic music information retrieval. Situating these within a “techoustemology” of monitoring, the central argument is that many innovations in digital audio are non-auditory and, therefore, displace sound and listening as the central means of producing relevant knowledge about music mediated in the digital age.     

The Emergence and the Effects of Therapeutic Factors in Groups

ABSTRACT

This article explores the emergence of therapeutic factors in domestic violence men's group, as well as their effects on participants and the group. The authors conducted semistructured interviews with 72 men from groups in Quebec, after their fourth session. Thirty-eight of these men were met again, following their 16th session. A critical incident technique permitted us to identify various therapeutic factors. Three key factors are discussed: imparting information, hope, and cohesion. The authors found different processes influencing their development, particularly the roles of the worker, other members, and the group as a whole. These factors helped members meet their objectives and by their interdependency also contributed to group development. The authors made links with mutual aid and identified implications for research and practice.     

Essential Components of Group Work with Black Americans

The article addresses what the author believes to be some of the fundamentals of group work with Black Americans. Three areas of concern are given priority: knowledge of Black Americans, knowledge of group dynamics pertinent to conducting groups which contain one or more black members, and the importance of employing group work models which have a strong person-environment focus. The article is written from a "before you practice group work with Black Americans" perspective. It is addressed principally to black and white group practitioners, who lead either racially homogenous or heterogenous groups.     

Transcending Differences: Using Concrete Subject-Matter in Heterogeneous Groups

ABSTRACT

The need to conduct social group work with heterogeneous members is a reality. Yet the social work literature does not offer much guidance in how to work with diverse groups of people. This paper illustrates a method of social group work that utilizes tangible and palpable subject matter as a therapeutic vehicle to create strong group cohesion with heterogeneous group members. It aims to explain how and why using non-personal subjects as the heart of the group helps people connect to themselves, to the world and to each other in a personal way. The examples given are from two groups that are very different in their compositions and very different from each other. One is a psycho-educational group at a Continuing Day Treatment Program for severely and persistently mentally ill elderly and the other is a group with adolescent and pre-adolescent females in a community center. Four benefits of using this method of social group work are outlined.     

Grief Support Groups Used by Few—

Abstract

Few adult bereaved attend closed grief support groups, yet many of those who do attend say they are extremely helpful. This research explores factors influencing support group attendance, and the extent to which bereavement support needs are being met. Focus group discussions reveal that a broad scope of sources of support is available to the bereaved. Results show what is seen as unhelpful to them, and what might be more helpful to them. The study indicates many adult bereaved suffer from an overall lack of support and would benefit from more caring overtures from those around them. Findings from this small frontline hospice bereavement study point toward ideas for adjustments in support groups and innovative bereavement education and programming.     

Caregiver Support Groups: Finding Common Ground

SUMMARY

Members of caregiver support groups for the elderly have much in common but also bring to the group different experiences and attitudes. This article explores how group workers knowledgeable about significant caregiver differences and their effects on the group can enrich the group experience for all members. The four caregiver issues examined are: (1) past history between the caregiver and care recipient, (2) ability of caregiver to privately pay for home care, (3) views on long-term care placement in a nursing home, and (4) stage of disease or level of care needed by care recipient. Essential beliefs regarding the value of differences described by Northen and Kurland provide a framework for the group worker.     

Adventure Therapy: Nondeliberative Group Work in Action

ABSTRACT

Nondeliberative group work allows group members to generate their own solutions and provides experiential opportunities to transfer learning to life outside of a therapeutic setting. Adventure therapy is explored as a tool for engaging groups in a nondeliberative manner. The theoretical underpinnings of adventure therapy are presented and contextualized within the larger framework of experiential education. Specific methods and models of adventure work are presented and considered in relationship to nondeliberative social work with groups. Two case examples are presented to illustrate the nondeliberative nature of adventure therapy.     

Examining the Structure and Dynamics of Kinship Care Groups

ABSTRACT

In the fall of 2006, a self-administered Internet survey was made available to all kinship care group facilitators listed in the 2006 New York State Office for the Aging's directory for kinship care providers. The survey sought facilitators' views on the purpose and structural aspects of the groups and to understand whether and how mutual aid processes were occurring. A purposive sample of 16 participants (53% response rate) completed the online quantitative survey that included space for qualitative comments. Findings revealed that 75% of participants facilitated a kinship care group in the past 5 years, and they believed their group purposes primarily included support and growth. Additionally, participants reported that all mutual aid principles occurred in their groups, with the supportive mutual aid interventions occurring more frequently than the challenging ones. Finally, themes from open-ended responses included 1) an enhanced sense of solidarity developed among group members, 2) the importance of facilitators' show of compassion for group members, and 3) facilitators' need to have a working knowledge of and ability to maximize available resources. Implications for serving the needs of kinship care providers through groups and other practices are addressed.     

Sensing Voice

ABSTRACT

Through a consideration of the underwater singing practiced by contemporary American soprano and performance artist Juliana Snapper, this article addresses the inherent relation between materiality and the voice, the sensed and the embodied. I focus on the physical and sensory properties of singers' and listeners' bodies; the space within and the matter through which sound disperses; and how the relation between these aspects plays an integral part in what it feels like to sing, and what it is possible to hear. I aim to demonstrate that a sensory reading of singing and listening may capture dimensions of the voice that are difficult, if not impossible, to account for using conventional analyses of music or standard readings of vocal repertoire. However, a sensory approach to sound does not offer a stable explanation of what sound or music is. Instead each such account unveils a composite manifestation of our understanding of sound at a given moment in time and space.