Group Work in Foundation Generalist Classes: Perceptions of Students about the Nature and Quality of Their Experience

Social group work education appears to be in trouble. The literature details a progressive disintegration of group work educational opportunities while highlighting an incremental increase in the use of groups in agencies. This makes for a concerning scenario. This article presents data from a national study of 1,360 first-year MSW students. The current study explored the extent to which students are exposed to group work content and knowledge in foundation classes. A discussion of implications and recommendations, using case vignettes, are provided to illustrate and amplify findings, as well as to highlight challenges that lie ahead for group work education and practice.     

The BSW Social Work Curriculum: Teaching Strategies,Case Material,and Assignments for Teaching Group Work

This article is a companion piece to another article appearing in this special edition of Social Work with Groups on group work content for the generalist practice curriculum. In this article, techniques that assist the instructor in presenting the material on group work in the classroom are identified. These techniques, which include case material and classroom exercises, also help students connect their field and classroom learning about group work. The activities discussed in this article derive from the core group work content discussed in the previous article.     

Group Work Education Today: A Content Analysis of MSW Group Work Course Syllabi

This article presents the results of a content analysis of MSW group work course syllabi in an effort to better understand the extent to which social group work education shows consistency with guidelines articulated in the Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups. This study aims to provide a current depiction and in-depth account of the state of group work education today through the lens of course syllabi.     

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.     

Instilling the Soul of Group Work in Social Work Education

This article addresses the process of developing an educational model for teaching social work with groups in an undergraduate social work degree program in Israel. The model was developed against a backdrop of decreasing status of social group work within the profession and the consequent loss of its unique identity and power in the social work field. The model's aims are to provide the students with the basic principles of social group work, to ensure its place in their professional identity, and to awaken curiosity regarding its use in their future practice as social workers.     

Use of Groups in School Social Work: Group Work and Group Processes

ABSTRACT

A survey of 54 school social workers indicated that they use group work extensively in their practice to address a number of student issues. Cognitive-behavioral theories were most commonly used to guide these groups. Workers rarely identified the use of small group theory as a conceptual framework. Groups were less frequent at the secondary level, and sessions were longer. Family change groups were more common at the elementary level. The method of funding the social work position had no effect on kinds or numbers of groups school social workers facilitated. Respondents did not identify use of small group theory as a conceptual framework, but they addressed group dynamics and group developmental stages. They used activities extensively and adapted published curriculum to meet member needs.     

Group Work and Social Justice: Designing Pedagogy for Social Change

In this article the authors explore the gap between education and action in putting the social work core value of social justice into practice. Describing how their School of Social Work has taken up this challenge, the authors analyze how a new social action course helps bridge this gap and draw on student reflection on their experiences and assignments in the course to show how students concretize and interiorize the meaning of social action and social justice. Learning by doing social action through a case study, group work becomes the vehicle through which students act on social issues and work for social change.     

Transforming Social Group Work Learning into Competencies for Interprofessional Teams

This article describes how social work and social group work strategies are used to enhance social work student participation in an interprofessional education program (IPE) that includes social work and five health care disciplines. Concurrently, social work students take part in a small group to assist them in the application of their social group knowledge to their IPE experience. Interprofessional collaborations between social work and health care can work toward alleviating health inequalities and poor access to health services. Social work has a crucial and significant role within these teams because of the profession’s focus on individual well-being, within the context of their social environment and support systems.     

Using a Student-Led Support Group to Reduce Stress and Burnout Among BSW Students

This study evaluates the efficacy of using a student-led support group to decrease levels of stress and reduce burnout among BSW students. The exploratory mixed-methods study used a 10-item Perceived Stress Scale measuring levels of stress, a single item measuring burnout, and narrative journal entries submitted by students. This was part of a larger study that also explored the efficacy of using a student-led group to increase students' knowledge of group work. Although limited in its scope, this research suggests that student-led group work increases the knowledge process and reduces level of burnout among social work students.     

Cross-Cultural Group Work Practice with African American and Jewish Adolescents: JCC/READY

This article describes a multiethnic group for high school students that were developed to promote tolerance, understanding, and healing among African American and Jewish adolescents. Social group work was used as the practice method, with a focus on ethnic-sensitive practice strategies that support cross-cultural relations and initiatives. The article explains the context surrounding the development of the group and describes the ethnic-sensitive practice strategies and the group work skills that were used to achieve desired outcomes as well as a general week-by-week account of what took place in the group.     

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.     

The Political and Economic Impact on the Development of Social Group Work in Taiwan

This article uses a political-economic lens to clarify the development of social group work in Taiwan. During the past 50 years, Taiwan has experienced a great economic and political transition. This article focuses on three different periods of time. Under the political repression of the 1950s and 1960s group activities were a means of social control. In the 1970s economic development evoked social changes that led to relaxed controls over civil organizations and political freedom. Community development and “Americanized” social work education marked the first step for social work with groups. During that period group work in Taiwan placed more emphasis on individual problems. In the 1980s political change brought the expansion of group work in Taiwan. An open political scene and flourishing social movements gave impetus to extension of various forms of group work in all kinds of situations. In particular social action and self-help groups played a critical role in the growth of the interests of people.     

Organizational Insight and the Education of Advanced Group Work Practitioners

SUMMARY

This article is the second piece about a group work course designed for advanced work-study students who are not in field placement. It discusses how group workers can use organizational analysis to improve group work practice in agencies with both social conflict and social transition functions. Practice examples illustrate how students promote group work principles in settings where the method has historically had limited currency.     

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.     

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.     

Action and Reflection in Work with a Group of Homeless People

The paper reviews work with a group of homeless men and women and explores contradictions which became manifest for the worker as he engaged clients who are economically and therefore socially and politically a part of an oppressed class. The work of Paulo Freire informs the discussion and illuminates practice principles toward a more radical approach to group work with poor, institutionally oppressed people. The paper also addresses clinical aspects of the group. Thc contention is that the historical split between social action and clinical work can be healed when work is focused at the psychosocial interface.