Perspectives on Social Group Work Practice

Albert S. Alissi

• Publisher: Free Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780029004807
• eBook ISBN: 9781439119648
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Not simply another "how-to" book, this provocative collection of readings does not advance a single viewpoint or approach to group work. Instead, the 25 selections present the full spectrum of classic and current perspectives, providing student and practitioner alike with a sound basis for evaluating contemporary practice and for formulating a personal approach to social group work. The historical and conceptual roots of modern social group work methods are examined in Part I, "Conceptual Foundations" which contains some of the classic statements in the field. Part II, "Current Perspectives", explores the most widely influential contemporary models of group work, "social goals" perspectives, "remedial" perspectives, and "mediative" perspectives. The two-part section that concludes the volume focuses on applications: group work is first discussed in relation to family and community casework and administration; then, self-help groups and other techniques used in the fields of medicine, counseling, and psychology are surveyed in light of their implications for social workers. To encourage the reader's active participation in the development of an individual philosophy and approach to social group work, Dr. Alissi concludes each chapter with probing study questions. These open-ended questions stimulate comparisons among the methods presented and urge the reader to relate new ideas to his or her own experience in the field. Introductions to each part and chapter also stress comparative aspects. An annotated list of articles and books on the subject of each chapter allows the reader to explore it in greater depth. A stimulating and systematic exposure to the most important ideas in social group work today, "Perspectives on Social Group Work Practice" expands the repertoire of working concepts vital to contemporary practice.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Conceptual Foundations
• Social Group Work Commitments and Perspectives
• Some Basic Assumptions About Social Group Work
• The Social Group Work Process
• Frame of Reference for Social Group Work
• Group Work and Democracy—A Philosophical Note
• Education for Social Action
• Play as a Means of Social Adjustment
• Regulatory Principles
• Current Perspectives
• Social Group Work Models Possession and Heritage
• Models of Group Development Implications for Social Group Work Practice
• Social Group Work A Model for Goal Formulation
• The Social Group Work Method
• What Is Group Work Skill
• Group Work Revisited A Statement of Position
• A Humanistic View of Social Group Work Worker and Member on a Common Human Level
• The Generic and the Specific in Group Work Practice in the Psychiatric Setting
• The Essential Components of Social Group Work Practice
• On the Use of Groups in Social Work Practice
• The Mechanics of the Model
• Social Group Work An Intersystemic Frame of Reference
• Related Applications
• A Group Work Approach to Family Group Treatment
• Instructed Advocacy and Community Group Work
• Administration as a Group Process Philosophy and Concepts
• Comparative Group Methods
• Self Help Groups and the Professional Community
• Index