50 I Effective groupwork
extend their professional development. Of course, there may be
occasions when a groupwork project is devised for staff or student
training, or to try a new approach to old, familiar problems.
However, a group is more likely to take off when it is based on an
assessment of being an effective way to meet a situation. Therefore,
a preliminary to an effective group is research into client and
worker opinions from which a statement or map can be made
of the needs identified, the resources already available, and the
gaps in service provision. Put another way, a group should be a
response to clients rather than clients being created for a group
initiative.
It will be apparent that these part-definitions apply to a wide
variety of groups. Similarly, definitions of groupwork which refer
to social functioning or helping members to cope more effectively
with personal, social or environmental difficulties can embrace a
wide variety of types of groups and more specific objectives. Consequently,
to make sense of the term 'groupwork' and to facilitate
clear thinking and practice, social (care) workers need to classify
types of groups. From this classification they can determine the type
of group they envisage or are interested in.
The categories that follow are not mutually exclusive since one
type can contain elements of another. What will emerge too is the
interplay between the main activity of the group, the style of the
groupworkers and the purpose of the group. The purpose of
the group dictates the nature of the group and, to some extent at
least, the style of the leaders or facilitators. The nature of the group
is dictated by the way that the members and/or leaders perceive the
purpose of the group.
Types of groups
Papell and Rothman (1966) classified groups according to whether
the aim was remedial, social or both: that is, whether the aim was
individual growth and rehabilitation, prevention of social breakdown,
or mutual aid. Hartford (1972) differentiated according to
whether the focus was individual (support, change, rehabilitation),
interpersonal, problem-solving and task achievement (committee
work, for example), environmental, or system change (pressure
groups, for instance).
Tupes ond purposes of groups I 51
Social groups
These groups are defined by their content: social or recreational
activities. The purpose of these groups may be to overcome
members' isolation, to provide a positive experience of relationships,
or more simply to offer an opportunity for pleasure. The
groupworkers may assume responsibility for the group's activities
or seek to encourage members both to offer suggestions and to
contribute their own resources and skills for the benefit of other
members. Members may be encouraged to take responsibility for
parts of the group in the belief that this, together with enabling
them to develop their interests and skills, can increase their sense
of fulfilment and self-worth. Examples are social clubs for survivors
of mental distress ar older people, day centres and youth clubs.
Group psychotherapy
These groups aim to effect symptom relief and basic personality
change. The emphasis is on enabling members to achieve their
individual therapeutic goals. A variety of problems can be tackled
effectively in group psychotherapy. Common among these are
self-concepts like low self-esteern, lack of purpose and direction,
and lack of a felt clear identity. Members may bring symptom s of
anxiety, depression, ineffective coping with stress, poor perforrnance
at work or dissatisfaction with relationships. They may complain
of emotional difficulties like the inability to express feelings
or poor control over emotions. They may locate their difficulties
in interpersonal functioning, usually described as the inability
to achieve intimacy, discomfort in group situations, or lack of
trust.
Members need to be motivated, wanting to change and prepared
to work for it through self-exploration. Their wish to join the group
should be voluntary and not the result of external pressure. They
need to believe that the group will suit thern and to accept the
rationale on which group psychotherapy is founded. Since these
groups rely heavily on verbal communication, members should
be able to use verbal skills. A final requirement is psychologicalmindedness,
an ability to accept an appropriate psychological
explanation of interactions and relationships within the self and
between the self and others.
PRESTON-SHOOT, Michael. Effective groupwork. 2nd ed. Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 212 s. ISBN 9781403905529.
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52 I EFfectlvegroupwork
These groups have a present orientation, a here-and-riow focus
on what actually happens in tbe group between mernbers, between
tbem and the leaders, and between tbem and the group. There is a
future orientation too, a focus on the goals of individual members,
the options they possess, how they might choose from these and
translate the choice into action. A focus on events that occur outside
the group is discouraged, as is excessive historical inquiry into
the origins of members' behaviour, although there may well be
some focus on how transference and defence mechanisms become
manifest among group members. The rationale for this proces s is
that members can be helped to see that they are not unique, that
they can derive support from other members as a result of which
their resistance and reliance on habitual ways of relating will
decrease and they can be encouraged to take risks. A further
rationale is that members' behaviour in the group will be a direct
reflection of their behaviour in life generally. These groups aim to
enable members to become aware of their characteristic behaviours,
with change emanating from a recognition of the ways members
relate in the group and from using the encouragement and reinforcement
of the group to try out new ways of relating both within
and outside the group. In this proces s the leaders attempt to
steer the group into a here-and-now focus and may direct their comments
either to individuals, subgroups or the whole group. A fuller
explanation of group psychotherapy may be found in Whitaker
(2001).
Group counselling
These groups focus on resolving particular problems or modifying
specific situations. Usually members share a common problem or
face a similar transition or life crisis. Focus is maintained on this
problem or issue, which is clearly identified, and little attention is
paid to other problems unless the group agrees to expand the focus.
The problems may be practical and material, for example negotiating
one's way through organisations dealing with welfare benefits,
or they may be emotional and interpersonal. Here examples
would include groups focusing on depression, isolation, bereavement,
children who are beyond the control of their parents or
who have been sexually abused, or difficulties facing step-parents
on joining a family. One task for the workers is to help members
Tvpes ond purposes of groups I 53
identity and retain focus. Another is to enable mernbers to build
links between themselves. The groupworkers seek to enable the
group to clarify the problem, to share solutions adopted by individual
members and to help members individually and as a group
to take decisions and to develop behaviours that relate to the
demands of the situation. In focusing on the problem or issue, and
the feelings that members hold in relation to it, environmental
factors should not be overlooked either as contributory factors to
the problem or as targets for change.
Educational groups
ln one form of educational group, the purpose is to offer inforrnation
and to impart skills through direct instruction. For example, a
benefits group might aim to inform members of their welfare rights
and to instruct them on how they may obtain these rights. A practical
skills group might aim to introduce members to easier ways
of dealing with practical problems in the home when on a low
income and to provide an environment where basic skills are
acquired through practice.
ln another form, the purpose is to orientate and prepare members
for life stages, new experiences and challenges, the prospect of
which may arouse fear, uncertainty or disorientation. These groups
focus on a change in status or position and work through the feelings
aroused by transitions: from primary to secondary school,
from school into employment, from early adulthood into midlife,
from work into retirement or unemployment. Groups for people
awaiting discharge from psychiatrie hospital into the community,
for prospective foster and adoptive parents and for couples hoping
to have a child through assisted reproduction may fall into this
category. There may be some information-giving but the emphasis
is usually on developing abilities and behaviours and identifying
strengths and resilience which have been underused or not needed
previously.
ln leading such groups, it is important to consider how people
learn. Effective learning is less likely to come from without, from
knowledge transmitted in a teacher-student format. Ir is more likely
to follow from members' willingness to engage in shared learning
to resolve difficulties or challenges felt by them to be real. Ir is more
likely to follow from facilitated discovery and a willingness to
PRESTON-SHOOT, Michael. Effective groupwork. 2nd ed. Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 212 s. ISBN 9781403905529.
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54 I Effective groupwork
parncipate in a proces s of curiosity and inquiry. Members contribute
their own experiences, offer their ideas and knowledge to a
shared learning process, acquire support from the group, and
through discussion or simulation exercises consider how to
approach the situation they are facing.
Sociol treatment groups
This cluster of groups may be subdivided into four. First, groups
aiming to maintain adaptive patterns of behaviour and functioning
or to enhance social functioning that is apparent already. These
groups ha ve a reinforcement and supportive orientation. Second,
groups aiming to modify patterns of behaviour and functioning
which may be disabling the individua!. These groups have a change
orientation. The purpose may be to enable individual members to
give up redundant behaviours, adaptations that they have continued
to repeat after they have lost their meaning or to apply outside
the context in which they were serviceable. Alternatively, the
purpose may be to encourage members to give up behaviours that
are defined as deviant and unacceptable.
Third, problem-centred groups aiming to improve members'
abilities to handle and resolve problems. The group is concerned
with specific difficulties located either within or external to the individual
members. The group proces s and the influence of group
members are used to achieve this aim. Examples include social skills
groups, youth offending groups and groups for sexually abused
children. Fourth, compensatory groups, where the aim is not so
much to effect change but, through activities, to provide members
with life experiences on which they have missed out. The aim is to
compensate for this deprivation. Activity groups for chiJdren are
one example of this type of activity.
Discussion groups
In these groups the focus is on the general rather than the particular,
on topics of interest to members rather than on specific
difficulties or problems. The groupworkers' ta sk is to create an
atmosphere of trust and support in the group so that members may
voice and develop their interests and use the contributions of other
members. For example, groups in residential care may be used to
Topcs ond purposes of groups I 55
enable members to rermrusce or to contemplate what might
irnprove quality of life in that setting.
Self-help groups
These groups may ha ve a variety of airns, from campaigning for
attitude or social change to using the group's resources for support
and individua I problern resolution. They can, therefore, deal with
a range of problems (Habermann, 1990), using different configurations
- open or closed membership, focusing on a forrnalised programrne
or member interests and on individuals or an issue outside
the group (Matzat, 1993). They comprise people who feel that they
ha ve a common problem or need, often inadequately covered by
statutory services, and who join together to address it. Accordingly,
authenticity, reciprocity, equality, mutuality and a common language
tend to be core components of self-help groups (Habermann,
1990; Matzat, 1993).
The attitude of professionals towards self-help groups has been
ambivalent, sometimes idealistic, sometirnes sceptical. Hill (2001)
suggests both that professionals often do not understand self-help
groups and that their assistance is, therefore, not always meaningful,
and that service users hold back for fear of further losses.
Members may find the concept off-putting and ha ve to overcome
their fears, of being judged for exarnple, even when other sources
of support have been extinguished. Persbnal contact with peers or
a professional facilitator (Schneewind, 1996), then, may facilitate
entry into the group.
Groupworkers may form a group with the purpose of becoming
less central in or less responsible for the group, to the point where
the group continues to meet without thern. However, such self-help
groups may fail if sufficient agency support is not forthcoming and
if groupworkers withdraw from facilitation too hastily.
Social action groups
Cohen (2003) suggests that these groups encompass personal, interpersonal
and political dimensions. Accordingly, where these groups
are focused on structural analysis and macro change, nonetheless,
those engaged in them may experience positive personal and interpersonal
changes as a result of their participation. Those people
PRESTON-SHOOT, Michael. Effective groupwork. 2nd ed. Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 212 s. ISBN 9781403905529.
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56 1 Effectrve groupwork
engaged in social action groups for the purposes of interpersonal
change may find that social divisions shift as a result.
Many people, whether or not they are c1ients of social welfare
agencies, are trapped in social and economic deprivation. Social
action groups aim to utilise a group's resources for collective power
as a vehicle for campaigning for social change and for the rights as
well as the needs of group members. These groups are often formed
around issues like housing standards, community facilities or
welfare rights.
Self-directed groups
In the groups identified above, the aims are identified either by the
groupworkers or by them in conjunction with the group's members.
In self-directed groups (Mullender and Ward, 1991), members
rather than groupworkers determine the direction and objectives of
the group. These groups may be problem-centred, focusing on
problems which members raise. They require, as do self-help
groups, that members work together and find their own solutions,
not just from within the resources of the group members but
through attempting to influence and change people outside the
group. Like social action groups, they may campaign on issues
arising from members' concerns expressed once the group has
formed. A key goal often is some aspect of external change together
with the development of members' self-esteem and assertiveness.
The group identifies the skills, knowledge and abilities within it and
these are harnessed to enable members to work on the issues that
the group has identified. Thus, in self-directed groups groupworkers
have a facilitative rather than a leadership role, which comprises
(McKernan McKay et a/., 1996) enabling group members to
take decisions and to increase their sense of competence, to find
material and access resources, and to experience success and to
evaluate their work. The role is collaborative - knowledge and
experience are offered to but not imposed on the group.
Using group classifications
This c1assification illustrates that groupwork can address a variety
of aims and purposes, and that group types are not mutually exclusive.
Rather, a particular design can incorporate features of several
Tuoes ond purposes of groups 1 57
types of groups. Therefore, an early task for pracnnoners who
intend to lead or facilitate a group is to identify the type of group
rhey wish to be involved in.
putting into practice: framing a group
- - - -~ Is the group a collection of individuals being formed by
groupworkers for a specific purpose, ar rather a preexisting group
whose existence is being extended to cover a new purpose, ar a
permanent group for which the groupworker's knowledge may
prove useful?
~ 15 the main focus on internal personal change, on interpersonal
change, ar external social action?
~ 15 the group self·directed ar one where, at least initially, the
groupworkers are central to how it manages both its task and
processes?
In selecting from this c1assification, groupworkers will be influenced
by the goals they and group members have in mind, the style
of work and leadership or facilitation which they favour, and the
value base which underpins their social work practice. Determining
the type of group will be shaped by the objectives and aims with
which the groupworkers begin. It should also be influenced and
modified through a dialogue with members when social workers
offer their services to an existing group or interview prospective
members referred to a group which they are hoping to formoHaving
achieved a degree of c1arity on the type of group to be conducted
and the aims for that group, questions of structure such as size,
duration and open or closed membership can be resolved.
Aims, purposes and uses of groupwork
Groupwork does have its limitations. Generally, groups cannot
provide exclusive attention to an individual member. As discussed
earlier, groups should not become an alternative setting for one-toone
work with the addition of an audience. Whether a group has
goals that are defined in terms of social action, individual-centred
PRESTON-SHOOT, Michael. Effective groupwork. 2nd ed. Hampshire : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 212 s. ISBN 9781403905529.
Tento materiál je určen pouze pro studijní účely.