Strength and Diversity in Social Work With Groups: Think Group

How can groups effectively meet the needs of humans in areas as diverse as aid, responsibility, action, healing, learning and acceptance? This edited volume aims to address these issues and provide ways to extend the current reach and quality of social work with groups.

Based on a selection of papers from the 24th Annual International Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG) the chosen chapters embody the strength and diversity of the Symposium, encouraging and encourage readers to "Think Group". Chapters address the future challenges faced in social work with groups, including issues in teaching group work, holistic thinking about groups, team-building, staff development programs and university-agency collaborations to strength group work practice. There are chapters focusing on how mutual aid groups support trauma recovery, including one with firemen addressing the aftermath of the 9/11 disaster, as well as chapters that examine group work’s place in community development, challenging social isolation, mask making as a medium for growth, and special issues in addressing concerns of children and youth.

This book will be of interest to researchers, professionals and students in social work and human service fields.

Carol S. Cohen is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Adelphi University, USA.

Michael H. Phillips is Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University, USA.

Meredith Hanson is Professor in the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University, USA.

Introduction 1. Caught in the Doorway between Education and Practice: Group Work’s Battle for Survival - Robert Salmon and Roselle Kurland 2. Thinking Group in Collaboration and Community Building: An Interprofessional Model - Nina L. Aronoff and Darlyne Bailey 3. The Genealogy of Group Work: The Missing Factor in Teaching Skill Today - George S. Getzel 4. A Cross System Initiative Supporting Child Welfare Workforce Professionalization and Stabilization: A Task Group in Action - Virginia Strand, Alma Carten, Diane Connolly, Sheldon Gelman and Peter B. Vaughan 5. Mutual Empathy: A Means of Improving the Quality of Emergency Health Care Services Rendered to Marginalized, Addicted Individuals - Arielle Dylan 6. Assessing Skills in Groupwork: A Program of Continuing Professional Development - Mark Doel 7. The Use of Group Work with New York City Firefighters Post-9/11 - John Marchini 8. Support Groups for Welfare Moms - Evelyn F. Slaght 9. Mask Making and Social Groupwork - Nuala Lordan, Deirdre Quirke and Mary Wilson 10. Why We Get No Respect: Existential Dilemmas for Group Workers Who Work with Kids’ Groups - Andrew Malekoff 11. Traumatic Grief Groups for Children, Adolescents and their Caregivers: A Short-Term Treatment Model - Helen B. Mullin and Deborah S. Langosch 12. Group Work with Adolescent Sexual Offenders in Community Based Treatment - Christy Driscoll and Keith T. Fadelici