Groupwork Programmes
The experience of not being alone with one’s problems and getting acceptance from others; of getting hope about potential to implement change; of giving and receiving; of learning new behaviours and practising new roles gives individuals the opportunity to promote personal growth.
Why Groupwork?
Research findings from social psychology clearly indicate that under certain conditions individual behaviour and attitudes are influenced by groups. This information is consistent with ordinary life experience of group-membership. Some potential advantages of the groupwork method are as follows:
- Much social living is experienced in groups. This is apparent in the family, at work and in leisure activities. A natural group is real life and a created group provides a setting where problems of interpersonal relationships and social skills can be worked on first hand. The skills can then be transferred to natural settings
- Groups of people with similar needs can be a source of mutual support, mutual aid and problem solving. People in painful and difficult situations often feel completely alone and different. Groupwork can reassure an individual that many others feel like them and understand what they are experiencing. There is the relief of discovering that one’s feelings are ‘normal’ and the example and advice of others about how to cope is beneficial.
- Attitudes, Feelings and Behaviour may be changed in a group situation. This can occur through social interaction, including role modelling, reinforcement, feedback and the range of ideas available to each member.
- In a group, every member is a potential helper. The roles of facilitator and participant are much less differentiated in a group, because much of the helping comes from members. Groups can reveal hidden strengths and potential in individuals who have become habituated to labels such as ‘useless’ and ‘inadequate’.
- A group can be democratic and self determining, giving more power to the ‘participant’. This is the political corollary of mutual helping. Unlike the one to one interview, a member of a group has numerical compensation for their weaker role-position. If there is a consensus among group members they are in a powerful position to influence outcomes.
- Groupwork may be more economical of social worker time and effort.