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Textbook Group Work With Populations at Risk Fourth Edition Greif Ebook All Chapter PDF
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i
Edited by
Geoffrey L. Greif
Carolyn Knight
1
iv
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
A copy of this book’s Catalog-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by WebCom, Inc., Canada
v
Preface
F or this fourth edition, Dr. Carolyn Knight has replaced Dr. Paul Ephross
as coeditor. Paul has completely retired after nearly 50 years of social work
education and group work practice. He has played a seminal role in so many ways
in advancing group work in the profession and, while his direct influence will be
missed, his legacy lives on through the contributions of the authors he recruited
in earlier iterations of this text. Carolyn was one of those contributors (and a
mentee of Paul’s) and has also played a leadership role in advancing group work
through her teaching, practice, writing, and participation in the International
Association of the Advancement of Social Work With Groups.
Carolyn has written two new opening chapters that cover practice skills and
what beginning workers need to know to begin practice with groups. These two
chapters along with the chapter that follows, which draws on skills that are appli-
cable across a wide range of populations, should broaden the appeal of the book
so that it becomes a stand-a lone text that educators and practitioners can use to
teach and learn about the many facets of group work.
In revising this edition, many issues that are addressed—veterans, child
abuse, hate crimes, cancer, immigration, and severe mental illness, to name a
few—remain as areas of concern for social workers and other mental health prac-
titioners running groups. All the continuing authors have updated their chapters
with relevant interventions, citations, and Web site resources. Sometimes coau-
thors have been added. In three cases, we asked new authors with fresh perspec-
tives to replace older chapters on topics of importance, for example, interpersonal
violence (Shantih Clemans), community trauma (Allison Salloum), and behav-
ioral and emotional problems among children (Jen Clements).
v
vi
vi Preface
Emerging areas of practice were also identified, as they have been for each
revised edition. We added a chapter by Youjung Lee and Paul Gould on immi-
grants who are caregivers of family members with dementia. As the US popula-
tion grays and becomes more diverse, this seemed a particularly significant topic.
Loretta Hartley Bangs’s chapter on group work with substance-abusing clients
also pays particular attention to aging substance abusers. Recent headlines have
also focused on the plight of victims of sex trafficking in other countries. Two
experts, Kristine E. Hickle and Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, have written a chap-
ter on their work with victims of trafficking. New chapters have also been added
on working with fathers who have been incarcerated (Geoff) and on parents who
experience homelessness (Carolyn), populations that, despite their prevalence,
are still underserved. Finally, Loretta Hartley-Bangs, a practitioner with many
years of experience, teams up with Carolyn to further our knowledge of working
with substance abuse issues, particularly among the aging population.
The chapters in this book follow a similar format that we hope will be helpful
to the reader. Each contributor was asked to write a chapter that would answer
the following questions:
Preface vii
G.L.G.
C.K.
Baltimore, Maryland
viii
ix
Contents
Contributors xv
Two
Group Work Practice: Phases of Work and Associated
Skills and Tasks 17
Carolyn Knight
Three
A Summary: Skills for Working in Groups Across
Populations at Risk 37
Geoffrey L. Greif, Paul Ephross, and Carolyn Knight
ix
x
x Contents
Five
Group Work With People Who Suffer From Serious
Mental Illness 67
Charles Garvin
Six
Group Work Services to People Living With HIV/A IDS
During a Changing Pandemic 83
Philip Osteen and George S. Getzel
Seven
Group Work to Address Adolescent Alcohol
and Other Drug Abuse 99
Andrew Malekoff
Eight
The Use of Group Work in the Treatment of Substance
Use Disorders Among Older Adults 125
Loretta Hartley-Bangs and Carolyn Knight
Nine
Social Skills Groups for School-Aged Children
and Adolescents 143
Jen Clements
Ten
Group Work With Older Adults 159
Steve Wilson and Susan Rice
xi
Contents xi
Eleven
Culturally Responsive Group Work With Immigrant
Family Caregivers 183
Youjung Lee and Paul R. Gould
Twelve
Group Work With Immigrants and Refugees 201
Luz M. López, Erika M. Vargas, and Juliaty Hermanto
Thirteen
Group Work With Combat Veterans: Vietnam Through
the Persian Gulf Era 221
Julie A. Ellis and Joanne M. Boyle
Fourteen
Group Work With Supercomputers in Our
Pockets: Integrating Smartphones Into In-Person
Group Interventions 241
Andrea Meier, Edna Comer, and Julie Clifton
Sixteen
Group Work With Victims of Hate Crimes 291
Joan C. Weiss, Jack McDevitt, and Janice A. Iwama
Seventeen
Group Work With Survivors of Sex Trafficking 313
Kristine E. Hickle and Dominique Roe-Sepowitz
xii
xii Contents
Eighteen
Group Work With Survivors of Intimate Partner
Violence 329
Shantih E. Clemans
Nineteen
Group Work With Children Impacted by Sexual
Abuse 347
Betsy Offermann, Monica Beltran, Cynthia Rollo, and Kay Martel Connors
Twenty-One
Group Work With Children and Adolescents in Response
to Community Violence and/or Trauma 391
Alison Salloum
Twenty-Two
Group Work With Gay Men 409
Steven Ball and Benjamin Lipton
Twenty-Three
Group Work With Fathers Who Are Incarcerated 433
Geoffrey L. Greif
Twenty-Four
Group Work With Homeless Parents 451
Carolyn Knight
Twenty-Five
Group Work in Context: Organizational
and Community Factors 471
Elizabeth A. Mulroy
xiii
Contents xiii
Index 515
xiv
xv
Contributors
Monica Beltran, MA, BC-DMT, LCSW-C, is a social worker at the Center for
Child and Family Traumatic Stress, Baltimore, Maryland.
xv
xvi
xvi Contributors
Contributors xvii
Andrew Malekoff, MSW, CAC, is associate director of North Shore Child and
Family Guidance Center, Roslyn Heights, New York.
Jack McDevitt, PhD, is associate dean for research and graduate studies and
the director of the Institute on Race and Justice in the College of Social Science
and the Humanities, Northeastern University.
Betsy Offermann, LCSW-C, is a social worker at the Center for Child and
Family Traumatic Stress, Baltimore, Maryland.
Cynthia Rollo, LCSW-C, is a social worker at the Center for Child and Family
Traumatic Stress, Baltimore, Maryland.
xviii Contributors
Chapter One
Carolyn Knight
G roup work remains a vital intervention for a wide range of clients facing an
array of personal, social, and environmental challenges. From groups for
individuals with substance abuse problems or for abused children to advocacy
groups for parents of children with developmental disabilities and neighbor-
hood associations that seek to improve the quality of life in the local community,
groups are empowering to members at the individual and societal level.
With its emphasis on mutual aid (discussed later in this chapter), members’
strengths are revealed and capitalized upon, and their feelings of self-efficacy
enhanced. Group participation enhances members’ resilience and their ability
to grow in the face of adversity (Gitterman & Knight, in press). Group work
also can be a vehicle through which social justice and client empowerment are
promoted (Dudziak & Profitt, 2012; Staples, 2012).
These benefits reflect the ethical requirements of helping professions such as
psychology, counseling, and social work. The respective codes of ethics of these
disciplines require professionals to promote client empowerment and social jus-
tice (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014; American Psychological
Association [APA], 2003; National Association of Social Workers [NASW],
2008). The social work profession also requires practitioners to adopt a strengths-
based orientation when working with clients (NASW, 2008). In this and the
chapter that follows, readers will note additional ways in which group work epit-
omizes the values and ethics of the helping professions.
In many agency-based and private practice settings, the group modality is
the preferred option, given its strong evidence base (Blackmore, Tantam, Parry,
& Chambers, 2012; Emond & Rasmussen, 2012; Fagan & Catalano, 2013;
Rose, 2009; Sloan, Bovin, & Schnurr, 2012). Third-party payers often prefer
this intervention because of its cost-effectiveness and demonstrated efficacy
(Humphreys, Drummond, Phillips, & Lincoln, 2013; Okumura & Ichikura,
2014). The increased availability and use of manuals— or predetermined
3
4
curricula—t hat guide the group worker’s actions and structure the sessions are
yet another advantage of group intervention, particularly for new or inexperi-
enced group leaders (Galinsky, Terzian, & Fraser, 2006). Manuals provide the
leader with suggestions for topics to discuss. This is particularly relevant for
psychoeducational groups, discussed later.
Although the demand for skilled group workers remains high, coverage of this
modality in social work and other mental health programs has steadily decreased
over time (Lorentzen & Ruud, 2014; Simon & Kilbane, 2014). Individual ap-
proaches to intervention predominate in the training of future generations of
practitioners across all helping professions (Piper, 2007).
This may be the result of the self-reinforcing consequences of the decline in
coverage of group work. Many educators have had minimal preparation for and
experience with group work. Thus, their ability and willingness to teach about
the modality are lessened. Evidence also suggests that what is taught about the
modality is often inaccurate and at odds with accepted group work principles,
concepts, and practice behaviors (Sweifach, 2014).
Similar problems exist in students’ training in the field (Ward & Crosby,
2010). Field supervisors typically lack experience with or adequate preparation
for group work (Goodman, Knight, & Khuododov, 2014; Knight, 2009; in
press). Thus, they are unable to provide appropriate and knowledgeable supervi-
sion regarding the modality or, even more basically, opportunities for students
to engage in it.
One of the earliest authors to identify and promote the benefits of group mem-
bership was William Schwartz, who observed that the defining characteristic of
group work is the multiple helping relationships that are created (1974, 1994).
“The group is … an alliance of individuals who need each other, in vary-
ing degrees to work on common problems” (Schwartz, 1974, p. 218). Unlike
individual intervention, the source of help is not the clinician, but rather the
support and understanding—the mutual aid—that members provide to one
another. Members learn and grow from one another with the encouragement of
the leader, whose primary task is to “help members use each other, exploit each
others’ strengths … and enlist each other in the performance of the common
tasks that brought them together” (Schwartz, 1994, p. 579). The concept of
mutual aid resonates with mental health professionals’ ethical obligations with
respect to promoting empowerment and client strengths (ACA, 2014; APA,
2003; NASW, 2008).
When the worker has limited understanding of group work and its essential
element, mutual aid, she or he is at risk of engaging in what has been referred to
5
Introduction 5
as “casework in the group” (Kurland & Salmon, 2005). Rather than promoting
members’ relationships with one another and the assistance that is inherent in
the process, the leader interacts with members singly, as if they were the only two
individuals in the room.
The groups described in this book include individuals with significant chal-
lenges and an often powerful sense of urgency for relief. Readers will note that
the authors concentrate on members’ underlying commonalities and how these,
in Schwartz’s words, are “exploited” to enhance the functioning and adaptive ca-
pacities of one another. Readers can appreciate why the leader may be tempted to
respond to an individual member’s concerns, to the exclusion of others. Yet, when
the worker is mindful of the benefits associated with mutual aid (discussed next),
she or he learns to resist the urge to engage individually with any one member, fo-
cusing instead on fostering members’ interactions with and support of one another.
Several conceptual frameworks are available that explain the therapeutic ben-
efits of group membership and, particularly, mutual aid (Gitterman, 2004;
Northen & Kurland, 2001; Shulman, 2012; Yalom & Leszcz, 2007). Six “cu-
rative factors” (Yalom & Lezcz, 2007) are common to each framework, chief
among them the experience of universality (Yalom & Leszcz, 2007) or of being
all in the same boat (Shulman, 2012). The sense of not being alone and the reas-
surance that comes with being with others who share similar thoughts, feelings,
and experiences is extremely therapeutic. Members’ challenges are normalized
and validated as they hear others recount similar difficulties. As members are
freed up from the feeling of being alone, different, and, often, “crazy,” they are
able to confront and work on the problems that brought them to the group in
the first place.
In individual work, the practitioner can normalize and validate the client’s
experiences. However, this remains somewhat academic because the worker does
not speak from personal experience. Rather, she or he provides general informa-
tion that indicates that the client is not alone. Take, for example, the case of a
bereaved mother who admits to being angry at her son, who died as a result of a
drug overdose. In an individual session, the worker might comment, “Your feel-
ings are completely understandable. You are grieving the loss of your son; part of
that grieving involves being angry that he left you, and this is particularly true,
given how he died.” In a group for bereaved individuals, when this mom discloses
her anger, others hear their own feelings being voiced, while she is reassured as
they acknowledge experiencing similar reactions. In a powerful and direct way,
all members’ feelings are validated and normalized.
Another factor that is unique to group work is altruism (Northen &
Kurland, 2001; Yalom & Lezcz, 2007). Although members clearly benefit
6
from receiving support, advice, and understanding from others in the group,
they also benefit from providing assistance. This enhances feelings of self-
efficacy and reinforces that the individual matters and has something to offer
others. There simply is no parallel experience in individual treatment. Clients
do not give to their worker, at least not in significant ways. It is only in a group
context that members can give of themselves to one another, an interaction
that benefits both.
Mutual support and demand are two additional factors that help explain the
therapeutic benefits of mutual aid (Gitterman, 2004; Northen & Kurland, 2001;
Shulman, 2012). Given that members are in the same boat, they have a great deal
of credibility with one another. In its most basic form, members convey under-
standing and offer support to one another, which enhances esteem.
The following brief example illustrates a more subtle version of this dynamic.
The group is for latency-age children in foster care. The children present with a
range of problematic behaviors that have resulted in frequent moves. The purpose
of the group is to provide members with a place to express their feelings and learn
to manage them better so that they can achieve greater stability in placement.
Dianna: I don’t care what anyone says or does. I ain’t going to listen to
nobody. I’m going to keep getting in trouble ‘til they place me
back with my grandmother [note: this is not an option as the
grandmother is quite elderly].
Betsy: Look, I hate living with my foster parents, too. But, man, acting
all crazy and stuff ain’t going to get you out. You gotta learn to
behave yourself if you want to get out, not cause trouble.
An individual worker could make the same sort of comment to Dianna as Betsy
did. Yet Betsy’s demand for work carries more weight because she has a very
personal appreciation for Dianna’s feelings and situation. This exchange dem-
onstrates how intertwined mutual support and demand are. As Betsy is urging
Dianna to rethink her actions, she is, at the same time, conveying her support,
caring, and concern.
Interpersonal learning (Yalom & Lezcz, 2007) is yet another curative factor.
Authors have long argued that an individual’s sense of self and worth are socially
determined. How one feels about oneself influences how one behaves in social
relationships, and how one is treated in those relationships reinforces the under-
lying definition of self. This creates a self-reinforcing cycle that can be very hard
to break. Group members often hold negative views of themselves (and others)
that are continually reinforced in their social relationships. In a group, this cycle
can be broken, as members are accepted, supported, and receive affirmative feed-
back from each other.
Yalom and Lezcz (2007) refer to the group as a social microcosm, suggesting
that members begin to relate to one another as they do with others outside of the
7
Introduction 7
group. When maladaptive social behaviors surface in the group, members, with
the assistance and encouragement of the leader, can, in a sense, hold a mirror up
to one another. Members can begin to see how their behaviors contribute to their
difficulties and keep them stuck in self-defeating social interactions.
Instillation of hope is yet another variable that reflects mutual aid (Northen &
Kurland, 2001). “Members further along in the resolution of their difficulties
are reminded of the gains they have made as they listen to and witness the chal-
lenges of others; in turn, members who remain more challenged are buoyed by
the progress of others” (Knight, 2014, p. 26).
In addition to these more prominent curative factors, group membership af-
fords clients the opportunity to learn from one another’s experiences and benefit
from the advice and suggestions they offer to each other (sharing data) (Northen &
Kurland, 2001; Shulman, 2012). It also provides members with the opportu-
nity to practice new ways of interacting (behavioral rehearsal) and to learn how
to handle and work through conflicts and disagreements (dialectical process)
(Shulman, 2012).
Finally, group membership, particularly when participants are with one an-
other over time, affords clients the opportunity to experience intimacy (Yalom &
Lezcz, 2007). The advantages of this factor are threefold. First, it can serve as
an antidote and “corrective emotional experience” (Yalom & Lezcz, 2007) for
members who have little or no exposure to or understanding of connectedness to
others. Second, intimacy with others bolsters esteem. Third, it affords members
the opportunity to talk openly with others, promoting honest discussion of feel-
ings and learning to work through disagreements and conflicts.
The effectiveness of the group modality typically is assessed utilizing member
outcomes such as reduced rates of depression, social isolation, and substance
use. Another line of inquiry focuses on the processes that occur within the group
and sheds light on the impact of the curative factors just discussed. Findings
from various practice settings and client populations consistently reveal that
group cohesiveness, utilized as an indicator of mutual aid, is associated with
member satisfaction and growth, enhanced feelings of self-efficacy, and a
reduced risk of dropout (Beed & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005; Burlingame,
Fuhriman, & Mosier, 2003; Johnson, Burlingame, Olsen & Davies, 2005;
Kivlighan, Paquin, & Hsu, 2014; Marmarosh, Holtz, & Schottenbauer, 2005;
McWhirter, Nelson, & Waldo, 2014; Norcross & Wampold, 2011).
GROUP TYPES
Not all of these factors will be at work in all groups. Mutual aid will be mani-
fested differently, depending upon the group type, purpose, membership, and
structure. In groups with a more educational focus, typically referred to as psy-
choeducational, socialization, or growth groups (Shulman, 2012), mutual aid is
8
likely to come in the form of members’ learning from the leader and one another.
The reassurance that comes from knowing that they are not alone, that they have
a similar need for information, makes such learning easier and more meaningful.
A typical example of this type of group would be a group for parents of new-
born babies diagnosed with a developmental disability. Members desire and need
information regarding the short-and long-term prospects for their child. They
also need to know that their fears, sense of loss, and anger are normal and ex-
pected. When these feelings are addressed along with members’ need for in-
formation, the benefits of the group are maximized. Therefore, the leader has a
fourfold purpose: presenting information to members; helping members share
information with one another; encouraging members to use one another for sup-
port, understanding, and growth; and assisting members in incorporating their
learning into their lives.
Support/stabilization groups have less of an educational focus, and, as the
term implies, more of an emphasis on members providing reassurance to one
another. This type of group maximizes the benefits of the curative factors and
is well represented in this book. It is the group type that predominates in clini-
cal practice, though many support groups also have educational elements. The
focus is on members’ underlying commonalities. The leader has primary respon-
sibility for pointing out these commonalities and encouraging members to use
their shared experiences to confront and work through the challenges they face.
Typical of this sort of group would be a group for women who are the victims
of intimate partner violence. Members may benefit from information provided
by the leader, for example, the self-reinforcing cycle of violence. However, the
greatest advantage of their participation is the affirmation and resulting courage
and sense of empowerment that comes from being with others in the same boat.
Social action groups are quite different in that the focus of change is not pri-
marily on members themselves but rather on a target external to the group. As
members develop a “universal perspective” (Shulman, 2012), they appreciate how
their broader socio-political-economic environment contributes to the challenges
they face. This group type relies upon the fact that there is power in numbers.
Members work together to effect change in the wider environment. In so doing,
their sense of self-efficacy is enhanced as are feelings of empowerment. Typical of
this sort of group is a neighborhood watch group, whereby members take respon-
sibility for safeguarding their community.
A support or psychoeducational group may take on elements of social
action. For example, one of the author’s students was running a reminisc-
ing group for elders living in an assisted living facility. During the sessions,
members consistently complained about the demeanor and attitude of the
nursing assistants. The student correctly understood that it was not enough
for members to voice their concerns and feel understood and supported by one
another. What was needed was action. Therefore, the leader encouraged and
9
Introduction 9
Effective group work practice requires the worker to have an appreciation for the
notion of the group as client and the “two client paradigm” (Shulman, 2012). The
worker actually has two sets of clients: the group as a whole and each individual
member. The group has a life and unique identity of its own, and this is more
than just the cumulative impact of each individual member. This is reflected in
the group’s culture as manifested in norms, roles, and communication patterns,
and in its stages of development. “Norms determine how members will work to-
gether and participate in the work of the group … and define what behaviors are
acceptable or unacceptable … [R]oles are the expectations that members share
the behavior of individual participants” (Knight, 2014, p. 28).
It is important for the worker to appreciate that regardless of the formal, ex-
plicit “rules” that are established, as members interact with one another on a reg-
ular basis, expectations for collective (norms) and individual (roles) behavior will
be formed. Once these expectations are established, they can become very hard
to change and have a more powerful impact on the group’s functioning than any
formal rules that the leader may have enacted. Groups that allow for open and
honest communication among members, encourage mutual respect and support,
and facilitate shared role behaviors (as opposed to members becoming “stuck” in
a particular role) are more effective at fostering mutual aid and therefore more
likely to achieve members’ collective goals (Chapman, Baker, Porter, Thayer, &
Burlingame, 2010; Ogrodniczuk & Piper, 2003).
When the worker understands the concept of group as client, she or he is
better able to address problematic role behaviors that may surface. Three of the
most frequent—and challenging—roles that surface are the monopolizer, the
scapegoat, and the defensive member. Less experienced workers typically assume
that the problematic behavior resides solely with the individual member who
displays it. From a group-as-a-whole perspective, the worker realizes that the
10
individual’s behavior can only exist because it serves some sort of function for
the group (Shulman, 2012).
The clearest example of this is the scapegoat. The following brief example
illustrates the function and potentially disruptive effects of this dynamic.1 The
setting is an inpatient program for recovering substance abusers. The primary
goal of the support group is assisting members in maintaining their sobriety
both in the program and as they transition back into the community. A topic
that often surfaces in the group is members’ histories of trauma such as sexual
and physical abuse as children. When this happens, the leader encourages mem-
bers to support one another, thus normalizing and validating one another’s ex-
periences. In the present session, members begin to talk with much regret about
behaviors they engaged in when they were using drugs and alcohol.
Quinze milles ! Et son père lui avait affirmé qu’elle pouvait couvrir
sans encombre cette distance. Mais Pierre n’avait point prévu sans
doute ce froid mordant et redoutable, ni ce vent coupant, qui eût
terrifié les plus braves.
Le bois, maintenant, était loin derrière elle et avait disparu dans
les demi-ténèbres d’une brume livide. Il n’y avait plus, partout, que le
Barren impitoyable et nu, où serpentait le fleuve de glace. S’il y avait
eu seulement quelques arbres, dans ce paysage désolé, il semblait
à Jeanne que le cœur lui aurait moins failli. Mais non, rien. Rien où
reposer son regard parmi ce gris blafard, uniforme et spectral, où le
ciel paraissait toucher la terre et bouchait la vue, à moins d’un mille.
Tout en avançant, la jeune femme interrogeait le sol à chaque
pas, s’efforçant de découvrir ces poches d’air que lui avait signalées
Pierre Radisson et où elle aurait pu soudain disparaître. Mais elle ne
tarda pas à s’apercevoir que tout devenait semblable, sur la neige et
sur la glace, pour sa vue brouillée par le froid. Les yeux lui cuisaient,
avec une douleur croissante.
Puis le fleuve s’épanouit en une sorte de lac, où la force du vent
se fit à ce point terrible que Jeanne en trébuchait à toute minute et
que quelques pouces de neige lui devenaient un obstacle
insurmontable.
Kazan continuait, sous les harnais, à tirer de toutes ses forces. A
peine réussissait-elle à le suivre et à ne point perdre la piste. Ses
jambes étaient lourdes comme du plomb et elle allait péniblement,
en murmurant une prière pour son enfant.
Il lui parut soudain que le traîneau n’était plus devant elle qu’un
imperceptible point noir. Un effroi la prit. Kazan et bébé Jeanne
l’abandonnaient ! Et elle poussa un grand cri. Mais ce n’était là
qu’une illusion d’optique pour ses yeux troubles. Le traîneau n’était
pas distant d’une vingtaine de pas et un bref effort lui fut suffisant
pour le rejoindre.
Elle s’y abattit avec un gémissement, jeta ses bras éperdument
autour du cou de bébé Jeanne et enfouit sa tête dans les fourrures,
en fermant les yeux. L’espace d’une seconde, elle eut l’impression
du « home » heureux… Puis, aussi rapidement, la douce vision se
fondit et elle revint au sens de la réalité.
Kazan s’était arrêté. Il s’assit sur son derrière en la regardant.
Elle demeurait immobile, étendue sur le traîneau, et il attendait
qu’elle remuât et lui parlât. Comme elle ne bougeait toujours point, il
vint sur elle et la flaira. Ce fut en vain.
Et voilà que tout à coup il leva la tête et renifla, face au vent. Le
vent lui apportait quelque chose.
Il recommença à pousser Jeanne, de son museau, comme pour
l’avertir. Mais elle demeurait inerte. Il gémit, lamentablement et lança
un long aboi, aigu et plaintif.
Cependant la chose inconnue qu’apportait le vent se faisait plus
sensible et Kazan, tendant vigoureusement son harnais, se remit en
marche, en traînant Jeanne à sa suite.
Le poids, ainsi alourdi, qu’il tirait, exigeait de ses muscles un
effort considérable et le traîneau, dont grinçaient les patins, avançait
péniblement. A tout moment, il lui fallait s’arrêter et souffler. Et,
chaque fois, il humait l’air de ses narines frémissantes. Il revenait
aussi vers Jeanne et gémissait près d’elle, pour l’éveiller.
Il tomba dans de la neige molle et ce ne fut que pouce par pouce
qu’il réussit à en sortir le traîneau. Puis il retrouva la glace lisse et il
tira avec d’autant plus d’entrain que la source de l’odeur mystérieuse
apportée par le vent lui semblait plus proche.
Une brèche, dans une des rives, donnait issue à un affluent du
fleuve, gelé comme lui en cette saison. Si Jeanne avait eu sa
connaissance, c’est de ce côté qu’elle eût commandé au chien-loup
de se diriger. Le flair de Kazan lui servit de guide.
Dix minutes après, il éclatait en un joyeux aboi, auquel
répondirent ceux d’une demi-douzaine de chiens de traîneau. Une
cabane de bûches était là, au bord de la rivière, dans une petite
crique dominée par un bois de sapins, et de son toit une fumée
montait. C’était cette fumée dont l’odeur était venue jusqu’à lui.
Le rivage s’élevait en pente rude et unie vers la cabane, Kazan
rassembla toutes ses forces et hissa le traîneau, avec son fardeau,
jusqu’à la porte. Après quoi, il s’assit à côté de Jeanne inanimée,
leva le nez vers le ciel obscur, et hurla.
Presque aussitôt, la porte s’ouvrit et un homme sortit de la
cabane.
De ses yeux rougis par le froid et le vent, Kazan vit l’homme,
poussant une exclamation de surprise, se pencher vers Jeanne, sur
le traîneau. En même temps, on entendit sortir de la masse des
fourrures la voix pleurnichante et à demi étouffée du bébé.
Kazan était exténué. Sa belle force s’en était allée. Ses pattes
étaient écorchées et saignaient. Mais la voix de l’enfant l’emplit de
joie et il se coucha tranquillement, dans son harnais, tandis que
l’homme emportait mère et poupon dans la vivifiante chaleur de la
cabane.
Puis l’homme reparut. Il n’était point vieux comme Pierre
Radisson.
Il s’approcha de Kazan et, le regardant :
— Alors c’est toi, juste ciel ! qui, tout seul, me l’as ramenée…
Mes compliments, camarade !
Il se pencha sur lui, sans crainte, et déliant les harnais, l’invita à
entrer à son tour.
Kazan parut hésiter. A ce moment précis, il lui avait semblé, dans
la fureur du vent qui ne s’était pas apaisé, entendre la voix de Louve
Grise. Il détourna la tête, puis se décida pourtant à entrer.
La porte de la cabane se referma sur lui. Il alla se coucher dans
un coin obscur, tandis que l’homme préparait pour Jeanne, sur le
poêle, des aliments chauds.
La jeune femme, que l’homme avait étendue sur une couchette,
ne revint pas immédiatement à elle. Mais, de son coin, Kazan, qui
somnolait, l’entendit soudain qui sanglotait et, ayant levé le nez, il la
vit qui mangeait peu après, en compagnie de l’inconnu.
Kazan, en rampant, se glissa sous le lit. Ensuite, la nuit étant
complètement venue, tout, dans la cabane, retomba dans le silence.
Le lendemain, au point du jour, dès que l’homme entr’ouvrit la
porte, Kazan en profita pour se glisser dehors et filer rapidement
dans la plaine. Il ne tarda pas à trouver la piste de Louve Grise et
l’appela. Sa réponse lui parvint, du fleuve glacé, et il courut vers elle.
Un boqueteau de sapins leur servit d’abri et tous deux s’y
dissimulèrent. Mais vainement Louve Grise tenta de persuader à
Kazan de fuir avec lui, en de plus sûres retraites, loin de la cabane
et de l’odeur de l’homme.
Un peu plus tard, Kazan, toujours aux aguets, aperçut l’homme
de la cabane qui harnachait ses chiens et installait Jeanne sur le
traîneau, l’emmitouflant de fourrures, elle et l’enfant, comme eût pu
le faire le vieux Pierre. Puis, le traîneau s’étant mis en route, Kazan
emboîta sa piste et, toute la journée le suivit, à quelque distance en
arrière, suivi lui-même par Louve Grise, qui glissait sur ses pas,
comme une ombre.
Le voyage se continua jusqu’à la nuit. Le vent était tombé. Sous
les étoiles brillantes et sous la lune calme, l’homme pressait
l’attelage. Ce ne fut qu’à une heure avancée que le traîneau atteignit
une seconde cabane, à la porte de laquelle l’homme vint cogner.
De l’ombre épaisse où il se tenait, Kazan vit une lumière
apparaître et la porte s’ouvrir. Il entendit la voix joyeuse d’un autre
homme, à laquelle répondit celle de Jeanne et de son compagnon.
Alors, il s’en alla rejoindre Louve Grise.
Trois jours après, le mari de Jeanne s’en retourna chercher le
cadavre gelé de Pierre Radisson. Kazan profita de son absence
pour revenir à la cabane, vers la jeune femme et vers la caresse de
sa main.
Durant les jours et les semaines qui suivirent, il partagea son
temps entre cette cabane et Louve Grise. Il tolérait près de Jeanne
la présence de l’homme plus jeune qui vivait avec elle et avec
l’enfant, comme il avait toléré celle de Pierre Radisson. Il comprenait
que c’était pour elle un être cher et que tous deux aimaient le bébé
d’un égal amour.
A un demi-mille de distance, au faîte d’une énorme masse
rocheuse que les Indiens appelaient le Sun Rock [16] , lui et Louve
Grise avaient, de leur côté, trouvé leur « home » dans une crevasse
propice. Ils y avaient établi leur tanière, d’où ils descendaient chacun
dans la plaine, pour y chasser. Souvent montait jusqu’à eux la voix
de la jeune femme, qui appelait :
[16] Le Roc du Soleil.
Le Sun Rock s’élevait d’un seul jet, dominant le faîte des sapins
qui l’entouraient. Sa tête chauve recevait les premiers rayons du
soleil levant et les dernières lueurs du couchant s’y accrochaient
encore. Sur ce sommet ensoleillé, la tanière de Kazan était bien
abritée contre les mauvais vents, à l’opposé desquels elle s’ouvrait,
et il s’y reposait délicieusement des six terribles mois d’hiver
écoulés.
Presque tout le jour il dormait, avec Louve Grise couchée près de
lui, à plat ventre, les pattes étendues, les narines sans cesse
alertées de l’odeur de l’homme, qui était proche.
Elle ne cessait de fixer Kazan avec anxiété, tandis qu’il dormait et
rêvait. Elle grognait, en découvrant ses crocs, et ses propres poils se
hérissaient, lorsqu’elle voyait ceux de son compagnon se dresser
sur son échine. Parfois aussi, une simple contraction des muscles
des pattes et un plissement du museau indiquaient seuls qu’il était
sous l’effet du rêve.
Alors il arrivait souvent que, répondant à la pensée du chien-
loup, une voix s’élevait et venait jusqu’au Sun Rock, tandis que sur
le seuil de sa cabane une jeune femme aux yeux bleus apparaissait.
— Kazan ! Kazan ! Kazan ! disait la voix.
Louve Grise dressait ses oreilles, tandis que Kazan s’éveillait et,
l’instant d’après, se mettait sur ses pattes. Il bondissait vers la pointe
la plus haute du rocher et se prenait à gémir, tandis que la voix
renouvelait son appel. Louve Grise, qui l’avait doucement suivi,
posait son museau sur son épaule. Elle savait ce que signifiait cet
appel et, plus encore que le bruit et l’odeur de l’homme, elle le
redoutait.
Depuis qu’elle avait abandonné la horde de ses frères et vivait
avec Kazan, la Voix était devenue la pire ennemie de Louve Grise et
elle la haïssait. Car elle lui prenait Kazan et, partout où la Voix était,
il allait aussi. Chaque fois qu’il lui plaisait, elle lui volait son
compagnon, qui la laissait seule rôder, toute la nuit, sous la lune et