Towards an Alternative Model of Social Groupwork

Summary This paper arose from our disagreement with some of the suggestionsin an earlier article in this journal (Brown et al., 1982).Before and since, we have both worked in and studied numerousexamples of groups of a type which, according to Brown and hiscoauthors, scarcely exists in British social work practice.This paper explains what we believe to be the actual significanceof the type of group work we refer to as ‘self-directed’,together with our view of its place within wider social work,community work, and groupwork practice. We also give examplesof such groups and conclude that their proliferation would enableworkers to go beyond the alleviation of individual distressinto the achievement of external change.     

Groupwork as a response to a structural analysis of child abuse

SUMMARY. This paper considers an appropriate form of intervention with parents accused of physically abusing their children where structural pressures are seen as the predominant problem. Traditional practice is regarded as too prone to individualised explanations and responses. Groupwork is therefore proposed as the method of choice and, within this, the self-directed model is shown to offer particular advantages. An account of a particular group is given, showing both the groupworkers' and the group members' aims for the group. The results of the group are outlined, and are shown to have included important practical gains as well as increases in confidence and self-esteem for the group members