Group (definition)  comprised of two or more members who identify and

interact with one another on a personal basis as individuals;

- At least 2 people (usually more), gathered with common purposes
the nature of the relationship is like in a natural group.
or interests in a cognitive, affective, and social interchange in single
or repeated encounters. These encounters are sufficient for the B. Primary Group
participants to form impressions of one another, creating a set of
 Gemeinschaft relationships (relationship is based on
norms for their functioning together, developing goals for their
common feeling) dominate in primary groups
collective authority, and evolving a sense of cohesion so that they
 It comprises the individual’s earliest form of human
think of themselves and are thought of by others as an entity distinct
association, typically the family or its surrogate
from all other collectivities, (Webster, 1988)
C. Natural Groups
- Examples of “groups”: family groups, friendship groups, work
groups, hobby groups, treatment groups  They are groups that come together spontaneously on the
basis of naturally occurring events, interpersonal attraction,
“Life” of groups 3 short-term or long-term
or the mutually perceived needs of members: Examples:
“Aggregate” - a simple collection or group of people who are in the families, peer groups, street gangs, cliques, and friendship
same location usually experiencing common influences, without a networks.
bond or significant interaction; may share some characteristics; not
D. Formed Groups
organized, e.g. a crowd during an accident; a group of pedestrians
waiting to cross a street.  Defined as those groups that come together through some
outside influence or intervention
 They usually have some sponsorship or affiliation
Classifying Groups
E. In-Groups and Out-Groups
A. Social Group
In-groups
 an exclusive self-organizing form of social organization
  are defined as those social groupings in which the individual - To help members cope with stressful life events and
feels at home; revitalize existing coping abilities
 the group shares some common interests, some shared
2. Education:
expectations, and some norms which render behavior more
predictable among group members - To educate through presentations, discussions, and
experience
Out-groups
3. Growth:
 are defined as those social groupings in which the individual
- To develop members9 potential, awareness, insight
does not feel a sense of belonging
4. Therapy:
F. Treatment and Task Groups
- To change behavior
Task groups
- Correction, rehabilitation, coping, and problem-solving
 Are formed and maintained so that specific activities or jobs
through behavior change intervention
can be accomplished
 Also referred to as ‘work groups’ 5. Socialization:
 Designed to complete a job or to provide ongoing advice or
- To increase communication and social skills
monitoring treatment groups:
 May also be referred to as “small helping groups” - Improved interpersonal relationships through program

(groupwork or social groupwork) activities, structured exercises, role plays, etc.

 In social work, a method of intervention to help meet A. The group as MEDIUM of change
personal needs of its members
 the target of change: individual member
Purpose of treatment groups:  source of influence: the group

1. Support:  social worker guides group processes to achieve goals

B. The group as TARGET of change  support
 education/learning
 the group as a whole or aspects/conditions of the group may
have to be changed in 2. For COLLECTIVE problem-solving
 order to change individual members (size, composition,
 work on common/joint tasks or projects
climate, structure, etc.
 dealing with social situations/problems (crisis, family
C. The group as AGENT of change rejection, etc.)

 group efforts aim to modify or redirect features/forces in its 3. For CHANGE in the SOCIAL SITUATION or CONDITIONS
social environment which makes demands, create pressures, outside the group
and impose constraints on the group, thus adversely affecting
 modification of the institution or social system within which
its development and goal achievement (techniques:
the group exists
information dissemination, persuasion, negotiation,
bargaining, pressure, confrontation etc.
 the group is not the focus of desired change
Advantages of the group approach in social work:
USES of Groups in Social Work:
1. Many individual feel more comfortable in a group (support;
1. For EFFECT on participants: similar problems)
2. Members receive psycho rewards from helping others
 socialization - re-socialization
(<Helper therapy= principle)
 acquiring or changing self-image/identity, motivation
3. Internal forces in groups can influence attitudes, values,
 attitude change/formation
behaviors (group can be potent
 change/formation/modification of values and beliefs 4. instrument for change in the individual/group)
 behavioral change 5. The group allows use of variety of activities relevant to
 achieving sense of belonging individual needs and group goals
 6. The cooperative thinking process in a group can hasten
decision-making
7. Similar problems of members may be best handled with the
group engaged in collective
8. action (instead of individually)
9. Maybe more economical to work with a group (if
appropriate)
Reasons for using the group approach/mode of service:
1. To use the group as the primary means of helping
2. To augment individual methods
3. To augment work with individual families
4. To augment community methods
5. To work with groups in the context of intergroup approaches
at the community level (e.g. coalitions of different
community groups)
When is work with groups social work?
(Kurtland & Salmon, 1995)
when clients teach each other (i.e., learn from each other)
how to meet their human needs through democratic group
process under social work auspices.
when the aim of social group work activity is to assist clients
to learn from each other.
when social workers and social agencies commit each other
to the intention of helping each and all members of the group
to perform in consonance with their own and others needs at
the same time.
when social workers and agencies commit themselves to
help members of a group learn from each other as well as
from and through the worker how to bring about change
outside their group
when clients are constantly helped to become conscious of
the ethically and scientifically documented fact that the
behaviors of all persons have significant consequences for
others, both in and outside the group.
When is work with groups NOT social work?
(Kurtland and Salmon, 1995)
 when the purpose is a change in the individual self without
constant reference to and involvement of other members or
regard for them
 when the group is used essentially as the occasion for
personal/individual gain
 when the social worker is referred to as the leader of the
group and behaves accordingly, making the client followers
of the leader by definition.
  when the standard method of understanding member
behavior and intervention is couched in terms of
psychopathology and treatment; and
 when social change and social action are by-products,
incidental to the main content of the group membership
experience.
Social Groupwork: a working definition
 “Social groupwork is a method of social work that aims, in
an informed way, through purposeful group experiences, to
help individuals and groups to meet individual and group
needs, and to influence and change personal, group,
organizational and community problems” (Linday and Orton
2008)
 The group that has been especially set up by a
social worker with the intention of intervening
in a way that is helpful to individual, group,
organization or community
 Members have been brought together for a
particular beneficial purpose and that meet at a
specified time and place
 Social worker is deliberate in facilitating or
shaping and leading the group and considers the
range of reasons why the group can help
Group Structure and Process in Social Work
A. Structure: the “arrangement or interrelation of all the parts of a
whole”
Group structure: patterns that develop and maintain themselves
over time in interpersonal relations (Garvin and Glasser)
 formal (task group, social action group can have elected or
designated leaders/officers)
 informal (therapy/treatment groups)
Structural Properties of Groups
1. Size
 Refers to the number of persons in the group;
 Size sets limits on the amount and quality of
communication among group members affecting
their interpersonal relations
 Assures more direct and intensive communication
among participants
2. Communication Structure
 Encompasses who interacts with whom about what,
and this interaction may be verbal or non-verbal
 Desired pattern of channels of communication is
group-centered rather than leader centered
 3. Affectional Structure\
 Evident in the process of interaction (the process
of acting and reacting): some people are drawn
to each other and develop liking for each other
while others are repulsed, and develop dislike
for each other
4. Power Structure
 In group functioning, some form of power or
influence facilitates the group’s organization, its
control, and goal attainment
SOURCE OF INFLUENCE (types of power) a person wields over
another in a group)
a. Reward Power4Power is based on B9s (one member)
perception that A or theentire group has the capacity to
deliver positive consequences or negative consequences in
response to B9s behavior.
o Reward can come in many forms: promotions,
praise, tokens, incentives
b. Coercive Power4power is based on B9s perception that A
can inflict adverse or negative consequences or remove
positive consequences in response to B’s behavior
o Forms of coercive power4being admonished,
being deprived of certain privileges
c. Referent Power4refers to the influence A has because of his
being well-liked and/or respected, which results in B9s
identifying with him
d. Expert power- Influence is based on the perception that A
has expertise, has some special knowledge or skill and can
be trusted.
e. Legitimate power4refers to that influence resulting from a
person9s position in the group and/or from certain
responsibilities that go with that position
5. Leadership Structure: Leadership theories (serves as
approaches to leadership
a. Position theory - the leader occupies the topmost
position and all the others below would be lesser leaders.
 Ways one become a leader: by election,by
appointment or designation by a higher authority
or sometimes by taking control usually by
manipulating situation through such ways/
means, gives the person authority or influence
over people
b. Trait theory4assumes that leaders have personal traits or
characteristics that make them different from other
people
  Also called the “great person” theory of
leadership
c. Style theory - different styles:
1. Authoritarian - leaders have more absolute
power, they set goals and policies as well as
major plans, dictate the activities of the
members
2. Democratic - This style seeks maximum
involvement and participation from members in
all decisions affecting the group,
3. Laissez-faire - this style is characterized by
minimum input or participation from the leader
d. Situational theory - leadership is a function of the
situation rather than the person or what s/he does
e. Functional leadership theory or the Distributed -
Functions approach to leadership - leadership is viewed
from a group perspective this includes the setting of
group goals, the selection and implementation of tasks to
achieve the group’s goals, the provision of resources
needed for the improvement of the group’s cohesion
f. Interactional model of leadership--Equal focus/ attention
given to group, the worker as the designated leader, the
members, and the environment in which the group
functions
6. Role Structure
 Role refers to the socially recognized patterns of
expectations of behaviors on the part of a person in a
certain position; helps us to interpret what a person is
doing or is trying to do
 All groups (whether organized for therapeutic reasons,
for problem solving, or for other objectives) rely on the
performance by members of a variety of roles
7. Group Norms
 In the process of interaction, 8norms9 or rules and
standards of behavior emerge4
 They indicate how members control each other, which
behaviors are allowed and which are not
8. Status
 Refers to one’s rank or standing in the group based on
any of the following:
 The person9s closeness to the center of the web of
communication in the group
 The carrying on of a particular kind of activity or
maintaining a certain level of activity
 The person9s position in the web of communication
and the kind of job he does
 Rank or status is based on some characteristics
possessed by the person

B. Group Process: the interaction processes or what goes on
between and among members (what is happening between and to
group members while the group is working 3 changes, forces
generated by the interactions)
1. Conformity: means yielding to the majority, or the group
pressure because of the need for approval or not wishing to
be different; the need for uniformity of action to achieve
group goals, or need to rely on others when a situation is
ambiguous.
2. Competition: denotes rivalry; decreases creativity,
coordination of effort, division of labor, helping and sharing,
and cohesion; promotes ineffective communication,
suspicion and mistrust, dislike among members, negative
attitudes toward the group and its tasks; lessens effectiveness
in problem-solving.
3. Cooperation: denotes joint efforts; increases creativity,
coordination of effort, division of labor, emotional
involvement in group accomplishment, helping and sharing,
interpersonal skills, cooperative attitudes and values,
positive self-attitudes, liking among group members,
positive attitudes toward the group and tasks, acceptance of
individual and cultural differences, and problem-solving
skills. A cooperative atmosphere results where there is
compatibility, similarity, or complementarity in the personal
goals of group members.
4. Decision-making: an integral stage in the total group
problem-solving process, similar to individual problem-
solving; allows for the pooling of the knowledge, attitudes,
and resources of each member; motivates a member to do
his/her best; the presence of members increases the
probability that one of them will suggest the highest quality
solution, etc.
5. Groupthink: a problem-solving process in which proposals
are accepted without careful review of their advantages and
disadvantages; powerful pressures are exerted on a group
member who voices objections to what otherwise appeared
to be a group consensus; great importance is given to group
morale and loyalty.
6. Conflict: means a sharp disagreement or clash of ideas,
interests, etc., characteristics of a conflict situation: at least
two parties are involved; there is perceived mutually
exclusive goals or values between the parties.
7. Group Cohesiveness - the degree to which members of a
group desire to remain in the group; the result of all forces
acting on members to remain in the group.
PROGRAM MEDIA  Age of group members
 Emotional and social characteristics of the members
Refers to the activities, verbal or non-verbal which the group
 Cultural and ethnic background of the members
engages in for the purpose of achieving its goals
 Physical characteristics of the members
An outline of the program media to be used for a group4the
 Mood of the group
output of planning stage of the helping process with
 Availability of materials or resources
allowances for revision later
 Worker’s skills and capacities
They are tools utilized in order to influence the behavior of
individual members and the group as a whole Procedure for selecting program activities

Uses of program media: 1. Specify program activities that are consistent with group
purposes and goals.
 Modify or change attitudes and behavior
2. Specify the objectives of the program activity.
 Promote individual values such as emotional and intellectual
3. Specify program activities that can be done given available
growth
facilities, resources, andvthe time available.
 Influence group climate
4. List potentially relevant program activities based on
 Promote group interaction
members’
 Enhance/ enrich group content
1) Interests and motivation
 Promote desired group values
2) Age
 Facilitate the beginning, middle, and ending stages of group
3) Skill level
life
4) Physical and mental state
Factors in selecting program media: 5) Attention span

 Goals for the group 5. Classify program activities according to

 Members’ objectives for joining the group 1) Characteristics of the activity, e.g. length,

 Appropriateness in terms of time and space requirements structure

 2) Physical requirements of the activity, e.g. fine A. Psychosocial Approach
motor coordination, strength
 Used to be associated with the Freudian theory of personality
3) Social requirements of the activity, e.g.
and referred to as the “diagnostic school of thought”
interactional, verbal, and social skills
 Today, it is essentially a systems theory approach in social
4) Psychological requirements of the activity, e.g.
work which can be used with individual and groups with
expression of feelings, thoughts, motives
actual or potential problems in their psychosocial
5) Cognitive requirements of the activity, e.g.
functioning (so aim is prevention and enhancement, as well
orientation to time, place, and person
as restoration or rehabilitation
6. Select program activity that is best suited to achieve the
 The distinguishing characteristic is its psychosocial
objectives specified
orientation, i.e., emphasis is on the relationships between
Extra group activities---
psychological and social forces and the interaction between
 Some goal-related plans for individual
the person, the small group of which he/she is a member, and
members may have to attended to outside of
the environment. The group is the means for problem-
the group session
solving and goal-achievement, supplemented by the
 Plans that require intervention involving
worker’s direct influence on members
other agency staff, family members, the
 Major attention is given to the member’ discomfort in their
school, or certain sectors of the community
current situation, although selective attention is given to past
like the police or town officials.
experiences as they impinge on the present.
 Extra group activities and interventions
should be clearly specified and presented Steps:
separately from the activities that will be 1. Initial Phase: understanding the reasons for the contact,
undertaken with the group-in-session establish a relationship, psychosocial study (information
needed for the psychosocial diagnosis and guidance of the
treatment)
Theoretical Models / Approaches in Social Work
 2. Assessment: critical scrutiny of the clients-situation
complex and the trouble for which help is sought or needed
(need to understand the group members and the situation as
target of change)
3. Goals and Treatment: Planning what goals should be
pursued to effect improvement,; goals are the composite of
what the group sees and desires for itself and what is sees as
possible and helpful. Time, agency function and worker skill
are taken into consideration.
Goals may be: (1) ultimate-general; or 2) proximate 3 clear
and specific, involving the themes to be worked on and the
specific objectives to be attained in the immediate future.
4. Treatment: the ultimate objective is to alleviate the client9s
distress and decrease the malfunctioning in the per-situation
system. The dysfunction in the person-situation is primarily
interpersonal so that the aim is to bring about better
interpersonal adaptations. Focus should be on both the
interpersonal system (e.g. parent-child) and the personality
system of the individuals who compose the interpersonal
system.
The treatment process: change is brought about in two ways:
1. Indirect treatment - the social worker intervenes directly in
the environment of the client (providing/creating resources,
interpreting clients9 needs, mediating; modifying client9s
situation/environment)
2. Direct treatment - involves direct work with the client
(social work: sustaining, suggestion and advice, catharsis,
reflective consideration of the current personsituation
configuration, encouragement of client to reflect on his/her
response patterns tendencies.
Relationship is a primary concern: this approach is often used in
work with families (Helen Northen, “Psychosocial Practice in Small
Groups”)
B. The Task-Centered Model with Groups
o The problem dealt with in the task-oriented one-to-one mode
of helping are also dealt with in task-oriented groups work
o It can be adapted to better fit particular settings, particular
client groups, problems, and the comfort and convenience of
the practitioner (Epstein)
o What makes it different from the one-to-one mode is the
worker’s use of group process in helping members formulate
and attain tasks
 o Its usage is for the time-limited handling/treatment of a. Humanistic: the group and worker know they share a common
problems of living human condition, are involved in the collective undertaking; worker
respects groups9 common purpose and integrity
Steps:
Member-to-member helping is the key principle to group members’
1. Preliminary interview: problems are elicited, and explored
growth; worker is mainly an enabler to the group; social worker
and clarified in individual interviews. Worker and client
shows belief in and expectation in the groups9 ability to cope re:
agree on the problem to be addressed and if worker thinks
their common task.
the client can be helped to attain tasks thru group processes,
the idea is presented to the client who may accept or reject
group membership.
b. Phenomenological:
2. Group composition: the social worker decides who should
be in a particular group, and the size of the group.  social behavior is viewed in terms of conscious rather than

3. Group formation: the members share the problems that unconscious factors.

they will seek to reduce or eliminate by formulating and  the major guides to perceiving and evaluating what is
accomplishing agreed-on tasks. happening in the group are: the purpose of the group (why it
4. Group process for task accomplishment: once the tasks was formed), its function (counseling, activity, action); and
have been agreed upon among the members, the social its structure (how it has been organized to achieve its
worker works with them so they can help each other to objectives)
accomplish the tasks within the agreed-on time frame.  the life of the group is seen as a continuing series of
engagements with group tasks that involve the members in
In task-centered group work, goal-achievement is the purpose instead
common deliberations, conflict resolution, and task
of the growth or effective functioning of members.
completion
C. Developmental Approach (Emmanuel Tropp)
c. Developmental: concerned with functionality rather than
Major Themes: pathology, abnormality, or illness, with self-actualization rather than
treatment; concerned with building strengths and not analyzing
weaknesses. It sees people as being continually able to move forward
in a life-long process of self-realization, or fulfilment of potential
insocial functioning.
D. Remedial Model (Robert Vinter)
Group work as social treatment
interactional view of deviance (problematic behavior is
generated and maintained thru interaction between the client
and individuals and/or situation
The group as “means and context for treatment”
Treatment Sequence: Intake, Diagnosis and treatment -
Planning; Group Composition and Formation; Group
Development and Treatment; Evaluation and Termination
Strategy of Intervention:
In this model, Vinter developed a <strategy of intervention= to
achieve the treatment goals for individual members with the group as
the means and context for treatment (the strategy requires the
workers to act or not act to <treat= at any given moment throughout
the treatment sequence). This strategy consists of modes of
intervention or “means of Influence”:
1. Direct means of influence: interventions to effect change thru
immediate interactionbwith a group member; face-to-face contact
between worker and group member in thebgroup or outside.
4 types:
a. worker as central person - object of identification and drives;
b. worker as symbol and spokesperson - agent of legitimate
norms and values;
c. worker as motivator and stimulator - definer of individual
goals and tasks;
d. worker as executive -bcontroller of member9s role
2. Indirect means of influence: modify group conditions affecting
one or more group members (worker acts on and thru the group, its
processes and program): a) group purposes (the composite of
individual members9 objectives for belonging to the group); b)
selection of group members; c) nature of group activities; d) size of
group; e) group operating and governing procedures; f) group
development (worker influences the course of the groups9
development)
3. Extra-group means of influence
Activities outside the group, on behalf of the clients; involves “extra
group relations” (behavior or attitudes of persons in the client’s
social environment or of large social systems of clients): a) social
roles and relation of clients prior to client status; b) “significant
others” - persons outside the treatment group who have crucial
relations with client; c) social systems of which clients are members
(e.g., schools, hospital wards, factories, rehabilitation centers which
can either be resources or barriers to the achievement of treatment
goals); d) social environment of the treatment group: objects,
persons, and other units collectively encountered by the group 3
makes demands and puts pressures and constraints on the group.
E. Interactionist Approach (William Schwartz)
This approach contends that social worker9s function is to direct
itself not to the individual or the social, but to the relationship
between the two; to mediate the transactions between people the
various systems thru which they carry on their relationships with
society 3 family, peer group, social agency, neighborhood, school,
job, etc. (there is a lot of reaching, pressuring, and straining that go
on between people and their institutions, so the need for a force -
social worker that will “guard” their symbiotic strivings, and keep
the interaction alive among them.
Phases:
a. “Tuning-In” - worker prepares to enter/re-enter the group
b. The Beginning: worker moves into the group 3 efforts to
understand what they are there for; and the agency 3 the
nature of the service and the contract that exists between the
two.
c. The Task (Middle Phase): search for common ground
between the needs of clients and agency/institutions;
challenging and detecting the obstacles that come between
them; worker contributes ideas, facts and values, and shares
his vision of the work, feelings about the process, and faith
in the client9s strengths; worker helps define the limits and
requirements of the situation
d. Transitions and Endings: essential task is to make a
transition from one stage of experience to the next: a)
temporary endings (one meeting to another until final
separation; b) permanent ending 3 brings the group life to a
close.
F. Crisis Intervention Approach
1. Crisis:
“upset in a steady state”
“state of disequilibrium” immobilization of problem-solving
abilities and aspects of daily functioning
2. Elements:
stressful event
perception of stress
 response phase
resolution phase
3. Crisis Intervention: process of actively influencing psychosocial
functioning of individual, families and groups during crisis
Aim: help thru assessment and intervention techniques, toward
adaptive resolution crisis
Tasks: a) concrete assistance and services b) psychosocial
intervention
CISD: Crisis Incident Stress Debriefing - a form of crisis
intervention; helps individual in collective crisis (e.g. natural
disasters)
G. Self-help Groups
Self-help groups (also known as mutual aid, mutual help, and
support groups) are groups of people who provide mutual support for
each other; the members have common problems (e.g., addiction,
disease). The GOAL is to help each other deal with, if possible, heal
or recover from these Problems. Members share stories, stresses,
feelings, issues, recoveries, etc. This is called the <peer participatory
model=, i.e., there is equality among peers, which leads to
empowerment as together they control the problems in their lives.
They don’t allow professionals to attend unless invited as speaker. In
the “professional expert model” in self-help groups, the professional
serves as leader with objective, specialized knowledge.
H. Group Counseling
Group counseling is a process which helps a group of 6-10 people
meeting weekly, to resolve everyday life issues and concerns with
the help of counselor.
A counsellor explores a difficulty/distress the members may be
experiencing, identify and understand maladaptive patterns and how
to change them (e.g., improve behavior, character, values, etc.
Group counseling techniques
Reflection Active Listening
Clarification Summarizing (recap)
Linking (how their problems connect with others in the group)
Encouraging Focus
Cutting off (setting limits)
Modelling (counsellor as a role model)
I. Group Therapy
A form of psychotherapy in which a group of patients meet to
describe and discuss their problems under the supervision of a
therapist. It is a form of psychosocial treatment where a small group It means group therapy of the members of a family. The objective is
of patients meet regularly to talk, interact, and discuss problems with to explore and improve family relationships and processes. The
each other and the therapist. family learns to express emotions and give feedback to each other.

Purpose: to give individuals a safe and comfortable place where they Family therapy helps in understanding and modifying home
can work out problems and emotional issues. Clients/patients gain influences that contribute to mental disorder in one or more family
insights into their own thoughts and behaviour and offer suggestions members, and improving communication and collective, constructive
and support to others. Patients who have difficulty with interpersonal methods of problem-solving.
relationships can benefit from the social interactions that are a basic
Social work with individual clients (Social Casework) often leads to
part of the group therapy experience.
family casework/family therapy.
Precautions: suicidal, homicidal, psychotic, or in the midst of a major
acute crisis are typically not referred for group therapy until their
behavior and emotional state have stabilized. Cognitively impaired
patients (e.g., with organic brain disease or traumatic brain injury
and as well as patients with sociopathic traits) may also be
unsuitable.

Group therapy as a form of psychotherapy is done by experts who

have at least amgraduate degree in the helping professions like
medicine/psychiatry, psychology, and social work (even as in social
work with groups, use of different helping approaches can have
“therapeutic effects” on the clients; group therapy is also used as an
encompassing term to mean treatment-oriented work with groups,
but it is not the same as group psychotherapy).

J. Family Therapy: the family unit is treated as a client (group).