Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA An Introduction Third Edition Chapter 7: Social Work with Groups and Communities

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work With Groups & Communities  Social Work with Groups  The Stages of Group Development  Group Facilitation Skills  Social Work with Communities  Phases of Community Work

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Groups Group work can be defined as assisting a collection of people who are dealing generally with a similar problem or issue. Groups can be peers, a family, or a therapeutic group.

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Groups Kinds of Groups  Self-help groups  Educational groups  Support/therapeutic groups  Task groups  Social action groups

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Groups Group Dynamics include how people talk and interact with each other in the group, a sense of belonging to the group, and the influence that a group has on individual members to conform to certain behaviours, practices, and beliefs.

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development There are five group stages: 1.Forming – planning and creating a group 2.Storming – conflict emerges within the group 3.Norming – roles are defined and trust begins 4.Performing – work towards the goal begins 5.Adjourning – conclusion of group

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development The Forming Stage:  Planning the group and getting started  Purpose should be defined  Determine length, frequency, and duration of meetings  Facilitator takes active role in structure and format of group  Ground rules are discussed and established

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development The Storming Stage:  Conflict emerges in the group  Differences in understanding of group’s purpose and member roles can lead to friction  Members test and challenge the authority of the facilitator  Relationships are established  Facilitator establishes tone for the group

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development The Norming Stage:  Group norms become more clearly defined  Members establish trust with each other  Group cohesion increases  Group moves toward working on the agreed upon objectives

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development The Performing Stage:  Group members work toward achieving outlined goals  Trust and a sense of confidence with each other are evident  Members might disclose painful personal issues from their past  Group cohesion is strong and participation is good

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. The Stages of Group Development The Performing Stage:  Group members work towards terminating  Group members may start disengaging from each other  Some members may express increased anxiety about group ending  One of the tasks is evaluating the group experience

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Group Facilitation Skills There are specific group facilitation skills to learn:  Connecting  Focus on process  Cueing  Supporting  Blocking  Social empathy

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities A community is a group of people who share either a geographic space, an identity, or an interest. There are a number of different approaches to community development.

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Rothman’s Model of Community Work: 1960s: Jack Rothman summarized community work as fitting into three types:  Locality development  Social planning  Social action

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Saul Alinsky’s Approach to Community Activism:  Approach is confrontational and strategic  Community organizing is a process of going to war  Battle power holders to demand distribution of resources  Disdainful of idealist approaches  Start where people are

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Paulo Freire’s Approach to Community Mobilization:  Begins with a listening survey  Organizer and community members go through findings of listening survey  Process of reflection and action called praxis  Committed to people being empowered to create a social justice revolution

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Women-Centred and Feminist Approaches to Community Work:  Focus on women as key to their communities  Rely on consensus decision making, shared leadership, and process orientation  Geared to more long-term changes involving small groups of citizens coming together

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Community Capacity Building:  Builds upon the strengths and assets of a community  Communities should develop their own resources  Create a map of resources  Map becomes foundation from which community members work to further develop their assets

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Social Work with Communities Community Work as Healing:  Looks at the building of community as a healing practice  Community members draw on community traditions and values as part of a process of healing  Often used by Aboriginal groups and spiritual communities  Useful in helping people remove internal obstacles to meaningful participation

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Phases of Community Work Bill Lee breaks down community work into a series of discrete phases:  Pre-entry  Contact and engagement  Community analysis  Organizational development  Action planning and mobilization  Conflict resolution  Evaluation

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Websites  Self-Help Resource Centre  Canadian Directory of Genetic Support Groups  Tamarack: An Institute for Community Engagement

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Questions for Discussion What are strengths and weaknesses of individual vs. community approaches? Why/when might you use one over another?

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Questions for Discussion Reviewing the approaches to community practice, which one seems most relevant to you for your area of practice? Discuss reasons why with a classmate.

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Questions for Discussion What strategies might you use when mobilizing a group of people with diverse backgrounds?

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Questions for Discussion How would you approach working with a group composed of people who have a different socio- economic or ethnic background from your own?

Chapter 7: Social Work With Groups and Communities Social Work In Canada Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Questions for Discussion What approach might you use when organizing a group of youth around education issues? How might your approach differ from organizing parents and older community members? Would some elements be the same?