Phillips Julie - Groupwork in Social Care

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Groupwork in Social Care

Julie Phillips

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in 2006
by Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright Julie Phillips 2001

The right of Julie Phillips to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85302 829 8

eISBN 978 1 84642 694 0

To Professor Maurice Broady, whose pedagogic example
I hope I echo with my own students, with affection and thanks

Preface

While increasing attention is being paid to the use of groupwork to meet core activity in human services agencies, groupwork literature, although expanding into more specialist areas, continues to focus mainly on groupwork dynamics once a group is in process. This books purpose is to explore some of the issues which face caring professionals in the initial planning stages of setting up a group. A number of complex processes need to be considered before the essential areas of decision making are completed, so that a group can begin to operate with the best chance of success. Research evidence and practice experience both testify that effectiveness or success are determined as much by what happens before the group comes into existence, as by what happens during the groups life (Brown 1994, p.34).

The prevalence of groupwork in human services agencies was perhaps at its height in the 1970s. In succeeding years some agencies priorities changed and groupwork was viewed by some managers as a luxury rather than being central to meeting core agency activity. Partly in response to a range of factors, such as changes in legislation for adults and older people and the search for more effective initiatives in health, child care and offenders agencies, there has been recently a growth in agencies initiating groupwork programmes to provide core services. This is particularly so in health-related areas, childrens agencies where there is a growth in positive parenting groups, and probation services where groupwork with sex offenders is seen as a very effective approach. This growth means that some workers new to groupwork are now expected to grasp a set of unfamiliar skills and provide groupwork responses which perhaps their agency has not itself previously used.

Groupwork is a professional tool in a range of human services agencies in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors. This book focuses on the planning needs of group workers in these agencies as well as in professional groups which have traditionally practised groupwork: youth workers, occupational therapists, community mental health nurses, psychotherapists and social workers.

presents an historical overview of the development of groupwork across a range of agency and multidisciplinary contexts, together with a perspective on current provision. Several frameworks are provided in an exploration of the utility to the practitioner of trying to categorize groups. These include: group characteristics, group purposes and theoretical frameworks.

The books practice core is provided by the eight case studies in . These illustrate the preparation and decision-making processes in a range of groups in their initial planning phases. These include groups in the voluntary and statutory sectors and represent a range of professional workers and client groups. Succeeding chapters draw on these practice examples to explore the dilemmas facing practitioners in their planning tasks.

The third chapter explores some of the central issues around power, race and gender in groupwork. These are clearly issues which must be considered in relation to all the planning aspects of any group. Race, gender and other aspects of anti-oppressive practice are considered particularly in relation to the selection of group members, and leadership and co-leadership. Since four of the practice groups are single-gender groups, some of the theoretical elements introduced in this chapter have very practical applications.

is devoted to group goals. The process by which overarching group goals emerge is sometimes complex and certainly infinitely varied between different groups. The extent to which group workers have goals for individual members, whether overt or covert, is equally varied. The case study groups amply illustrate these differences.

The importance of the groups physical environment is explored in . This chapter asserts that practitioners in planning groups should, where possible, consciously plan the environment as part of the groupwork experience for members and acknowledge the contribution of the environment to the achievement of group goals. Groupwork literature, environmental psychology and the concerns of group workers are utilized to pursue a number of dimensions of this often-neglected topic.

concerns group programmes and group activities. The case study groups are used to focus on how professionals select or reject activities for groups at the planning stage. Consideration is given to assessing whether the criteria for the selection of activities relates to the achievement of group goals. There is a focus on the types of activities most generally salient in groups run by particular professions and on the authors use of an activity analysis framework applied to groupwork in a mental health day centre.