A Mutual Aid Group Program for Women Who Use Violence

This article presents the development of a group program for women who use violence. A review of the North American literature and research into Quebec practices led the authors to adopt an intersectional feminist analysis of women’s violence and to choose the mutual aid group model. The program’s main objective is to help women find alternatives to the use of violence by working on three main themes: (1) violence, (2) socialization, and (3) life conditions. The program also aims to increase women’s empowerment through concrete experiences of group solidarity, such as by helping one another. Challenges that were encountered in its development and that are anticipated in its evaluation are discussed.     

The Power of Learning and Men’s Stories in Engaging Abusive Men in the Change Process: Qualitative Study Across Programs

This study draws upon input from facilitators (n = 8) and a sample of men who committed acts of domestic abuse (n = 14) from two urban programs. A key finding of the research was that “learning things and motivation to learn” was an important factor keeping men engaged in treatment. Men also reported that hearing other mens’ stories was a motivator for change. These findings validated the importance of open-ended groups with an educational format. They also suggest that men already in treatment can be of value to others just beginning the treatment process by sharing their stories of change.     

Helping each other: a peer supervision group with facilitators of mutual aid groups

ABSTRACT

Mutual aid groups can help people cope with life’s problems. A peer supervision group can help facilitators to better understand their role and improve their facilitating skills in mutual aid groups. Peer supervision groups aim to support facilitators ability to reflect on their difficulties in working with groups, deepen their methodological questions, and improve their understanding regarding how to best proceed as facilitators. This paper studied a peer supervision group of experts-by-experience facilitators to demonstrate the dynamics of mutual aid that characterized the group’s functioning.     

Promoting Individual and Social Changes: A Hybrid Model of Social Work with Groups

Taking as a starting point two influential, yet different approaches in group work, that is, the self-directed group work and mutual aid models, this article examines a possible alternative for conducting social work with groups. Drawing from structuration theory, which makes a strong dialectical relation between agency and structure possible, this article highlights how our alternative model could lead to a greater integration of the micro- and macrodimensions in group-work practice. The Discussion section proposes three key principles for group work, namely, a belief in people’s strengths and capacities, a focus on critical thinking, and a concern for the development of a democratic culture in groups. These principles are conveyed through the group worker’s roles as consciousness raiser and process facilitator and provide a flexible and participatory process that can be used with a broad range of service-user groups. The article concludes with a discussion on the strengths and limitations of the model.     

Retrospective Book Review: Teaching a Methods Course in Social Work with Groups

SUMMARY

Eight years after its publication, Teaching a Methods Course in Social Work with Groups serves as a reminder to social workers of group work's historic roots and its value as a method of practice with diverse populations. The author shares her experiences in utilizing the teaching text in her work with MSW students and students of the arts who facilitate activity-based groups in community settings. Citing examples of students' experiences in group work facilitation, the author touches on the constraints emerging group workers face in translating social work skills and values to practice. The author's retrospective review of the teaching text underscores its continued importance in the field of social group work instruction.     

Teaching Group Work in the BSW Generalist Social Work Curriculum: Core Content

In this article, nine considerations associated with social work practice with groups are identified and discussed. These range from the importance of mutual aid and the role of the group leader to multicultural competence and practice skills needed in the beginning, middle, and ending phases of group work. Group work is only one of four modalities that must be taught in the undergraduate practice sequence. Therefore, the nine considerations represent the essential content on group work for the generalist practice curriculum. The author assumes that this content can be presented in a 7-week time frame. In a companion article, the author presents teaching strategies and techniques that assist the instructor in conveying the principles for practice discussed in the present article.     

BOOK REVIEWS

No abstract available for this article.     

Flipping the Equation: The Need for Context-Focused Group Work Education

For many students of social work, traditional group work curriculum promotes the development of mutual aid as the criterion for success in a group. However, a dichotomy exists between a reduction in agency-sanctioned mutual aid–focused groups and the expanded use of groups to deliver services. The contrast between MSW students' expectations and the practice realities they face is particularly challenging for classroom instruction. This article proposes a context-focused approach to teaching an elective in social group work, which links theories and skills to organizationally specific practice contexts. This approach encourages students to engage in critical reflection of practice through consistent interaction between foundational concepts and practice realities.     

Group Work Education: A Call for Renewed Commitment

Studies demonstrate steady decline in group work courses and concentration in graduate social work programs. This is attributed to the Council on Social Work Education’s recommendation, in 1969, for a generalist practice model; the growing interest of professional social workers in developing casework skills, including psychiatric casework; and the influence of perspectives from nonsocial work disciplines. This article proposes renewed efforts to strengthen social group work education and concerted collaboration between classroom and field. It focuses on essential course content, emphasizes social group work perspectives, and identifies core social group work concepts and tools for inclusion in curriculum and field education.     

Mutual Aid: A Contribution to Best-Practice Social Work

This keynote speech, delivered in French and translated to English with minor adjustments for publication, presents some of the author's ideas about mutual-aid practice as best-practice social work. The author discusses the etiology and centrality of mutual aid in social work with groups, presents five characteristics of mutual-aid practice that reflect best-practice social work and identifies four key characteristics—joy in sharing, faith, courage, and curiosity—of mutual-aid practitioners. Similarities between mutual-aid practice and evidence-based group work, practice evaluation and participatory-action research are discussed as well. The author presents group work as inherently evidence based and challenges the idea that subjective measures alone may not be valid in reaching this determination.     

A Leadership Training Group for at Risk Fifth & Seventh Graders: Results from A Brief Strength-Based Group Program

ABSTRACT

An increasing number of youth are exhibiting social, emotional, and behavioral problems that hinder their ability to function at grade level. Subsequently, school mental health services have not been able to address the need for services particularly among students who are minority and poor. A mixed methodology study was conducted to determine the treatment outcomes from a brief strength-based leadership training group for primarily students who are African American and poor. Pre–post scores on three scales and focus group data revealed significant positive changes in regard to internal areas of functioning and social skills, anger management skills, and school attitude. Gender and age significantly impacted outcomes.     

The Use of a Workshop on Group Work for Field Instructors to Enhance Students' Experience with Group Work in the Field Practicum

To enhance student's learning about group work in the field practicum, one undergraduate program provided a continuing education workshop to field instructors in which core group work content was identified as were suggestions for how they could provide appropriate learning opportunities for their students. Results suggest that such training may positively affect students' opportunities to practice group work. The findings also are consistent with previous research that has demonstrated that social work students often have only limited opportunities to practice group work in the field.     

Contemporary Youth Violence Prevention: Interpersonal-Cognitive Problem-Solving

ABSTRACT

Considerable progress has been made in the past decade in identifying which factors contribute to youth violence. The purpose of this article is to illuminate the issues and group factors that underlie youth violence, assessment and profiling, and prevention programs. Guidelines for predicting youth violence are presented and critiqued. School violence prevention programs, the role of SAMHSA, and interpersonal-cognitive problem-solving are presented.     

Interprofessional collaboration between social workers and school counsellors in tackling youth at-risk behaviour

In Singapore, although youths are engaged in school, at-risk behaviours still prevail. This study discovers the experiences of collaboration between social workers and school counsellors when working together to tackle the multi-dimensional problems that youths face. It is posited that the collaborative processes have strengthened as seen in the role clarity, flexibility and tight communicative processes amongst professionals. There are also issues of concerns raised, such as confidentiality and clashes in agenda. These are discussed in light of the processes and orientations that influenced professionals in their practise. Last, relevant recommendations are given to develop collaborative work.     

The People Shall Rule by Fisher,R. (Ed)

ABSTRACT

Meals Made Easy was introduced as an interactive group cooking program at a food bank to help food bank clients learn to prepare economical and nutritious meals. Cognitive behavior strategies were used to alter their prevailing negative attitudes about participating in an on site cooking program, and to overcome self-defeating notions about their capabilities. Self-efficacy and mutual aid were promoted through the group program. Classes were open-ended to accommodate persons with a wide range of social, mental and physical disabilities. Over a two year period, 100 clients enrolled in the program, which comprised 10 series of 3 to 6 cooking classes. Analyses of self-evaluations and an independent focus group assessment showed that the participants not only benefited by learning to prepare nutritional meals, but also by improving their self-esteem and self-efficacy.     

The Panchshil Buddha Vihar Group: Dalit migrant life and group solidarity during the pandemic

ABSTRACT

This narrative is based on my previous experience and telephonic discussions with Dalit (Dalits are an ex-untouchable caste of India, who have been subject to discrimination and exclusion historically and placed at the bottom on the Indian social system) migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. The narrative aims to highlight the life and trajectory of Dalit migrants pre- and during the pandemic. In addition, the narrative illustrates their everyday strategy as a group in response to the pandemic. Further, the narrative describes various means and methods of Dalit migrants to advance community solidarity, which has helped them to survive and escape the city, to return to their villages.