This document discusses different types of groups and communities that social workers may engage with. It describes open groups that have changing membership and closed groups with fixed membership. Treatment groups focus on interactions between members to provide feedback and learning. Task groups work together on specific projects to meet client, organizational, or community needs. Examples include forums, committees, work teams, and social action groups. Self-help groups are informal associations that empower members to collectively improve living conditions through activities like microfinance. Joint liability groups are credit-oriented groups formed to obtain loans from banks.

1. WORKING
WITH GROUPS
AND
COMMUNITIES
Module 2

2. Open and closed groups
 Open groups
 Open groups are those groups characterized by changing
membership. Here, virtually anyone can become a member. As
certain members leave, new members are admitted,
and the group continues.
 An open group has an undefined number of group members with
new people coming and going on a regular basis.

3. Closed groups
 A closed group has a fixed number of group members and has a set
duration. At the program development stage group leaders need to
decide if their group will be an open or closed group.
 These are some groups that maintain exclusiveness by restricting
the membership and make it much more difficult to join. Only a few
qualify to become members in such clubs. Such groups with
restrictive membership criteria are closed groups.

5. TREATMENT GROUPS

9.  Therapeutic groups based on group relations, interactions between
group members, and the consideration of a selected issue.
 Members are encouraged to give feedback to others. Feedback
includes expressing your own feelings about what someone says or
does.
 Interaction between group members are highly encouraged
 Group members make a commitment to the group and are
instructed that the content of the group sessions are confidential.

10.  The T-group provides participants with an opportunity to learn
about themselves, their impact on others and how to function more
effectively in group and interpersonal situations.
 It facilitates this learning by bringing together a small group of
people for the purpose of studying their own behavior when they
interact within a small group.

11.  Task groups are groups of individuals brought together to
accomplish a specific action or produce a product.
 Three basic purposes:
Meeting client needs, meeting organisational needs and meeting
community needs.
 Forum
 Committee
 Work a team
 Social action group

12.  A place or any meeting spot where peoples can exchange and
discuss their ideas.
 A forum is a public discussion. It can refer to a meeting, a meeting
house or any conversation that is available publically.
 There were forums — large public gathering places — in Ancient
Rome; they can still be found across the globe.

13.  A committee is made up by the people who are elected as a group.
 Their job is accomplishing tasks which delegate the committee from
superior powers.
 For example group of students in charge of a rural camp for the college
 Most of the committees follow paradigm set of measures in their meetings
so that committee members follow the activity of the group.

14.  Team members work with each other to accomplish goals on behalf of the
client group.
 Team leaders are appointed, by the group administrator.
 Team leader is facilitator and coordinator, of the group. He is responsible
for conducting meetings motivating team members and also coordinating
individual efforts.
 Eg: a group of professionals who work in psychiatric hospital

15. SOCIAL ACTION GROUPS
 These empower members to engage in collective action and planned
change effects to change some aspect of the social or physical
environment.
 These groups serve the common good of both members and non
members.
 The group worker helps the group in developing an open
communication patterns so that all members of the group have a
chance to be involved.

16.  Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are informal associations of people who choose
to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions. It can be
defined as self governed, peer controlled information group of people with
similar socio-economic background and having a desire to collectively
perform common purpose.
 Villages face numerous problems related to poverty, illiteracy, lack of
skills, lack of formal credit etc. These problems cannot be tackled at an
individual level and need collective efforts. Thus SHG can become a
vehicle of change for the poor and marginalized. SHG rely on the notion of
“Self Help” to encourage self-employment and poverty alleviation.

17.  It looks to build the functional capacity of the poor and the marginalized
in the field of employment and income generating activities.
 It resolves conflicts through collective leadership and mutual discussion.
 It provides collateral free loan with terms decided by the group at
the market driven rates.
 Such groups work as a collective guarantee system for members who
propose to borrow from organised sources. The poor collect their savings
and save it in banks. In return they receive easy access to loans with a
small rate of interest to start their micro unit enterprise.
 Self-Help Groups have emerged as the most effective mechanism
for delivery of microfinance services to the poor.

18.  One of the reasons for rural poverty in our country is low access to credit
and financial services.
 The existence of sound community networks in villages is increasingly
being recognised as one of the most important elements of credit linkage in
the rural areas.
 They help in accessing credit to the poor and thus, play a critical role in
poverty alleviation.
 They also help to build social capital among the poor, especially women.
This empowers women and gives them greater voice in the society.
 Financial independence through self-employment has many externalities
such as improved literacy levels, better health care and even better family
planning.

19.  Social integrity
 Gender Equity
 Voice to marginalized section
 Improving efficiency of government schemes
 Changes In Consumption Pattern
 Impact on Housing & Health
 Banking literacy

20.  SHGs often appear to be instrumental in rural poverty alleviation.
 Economic empowerment through SHGs, provides women the
confidence for participation in decision making affairs at the
household-level as well as at the community-level.
 Un-utilised and underutilised resources of the community can
be mobilised effectively under different SHG-initiatives.
 Leaders and members of successful SHGs bear the potentiality to
act as resource persons for different community developmental
initiatives.
 Active involvement in different SHG-initiatives helps members to
grow leadership-skills.

21.  Lack of knowledge
 Patriarchal mind-set
 Lack of rural banking facilities
 No Security
 Sustainability

22.  Joint Liability Group is a concept established in India in 2014 by the
rural development agency National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) to provide institutional credit to small
farmers.
 Joint Liability Group is a group of 4-10 people of same
village/locality of homogenous nature and of same Socio Economic
Background.
 JLG is a credit oriented group which is primarily formed to avail
loan from the bank/formal credit institutions.

23.  Members should have a common activity.
 Members need not to have a land title.
 Members should be of the same village.
 Only One member of a family can become a member of JLGs.
 Members should not be a defaulter of bank loan.
 Member should hold regular meetings.

24.  Model A/ Individuals JLG
 All members would jointly complete the loan document, making
each one jointly and severally liable for repayment of all loans
taken by individuals belonging to the group. All the members
mutually agree for the loan and sign the mutual note. After that,
each member will open their individual account and the loan
amount will be transferred in their respective accounts. However,
the leader collects the repayment amount from all members of the
group and repays the amount received to the bank. If one member is
not able to repay his/her due installment at time then other
members of the group arrange the amount and ensure repayment
without credit default.

25.  Model B/ Group Model
 In this model all members of a group come together and open one
group account on mutual agreement. Then loan amount is
transferred to the group account and the members distribute that
amount among them self equally or as per their need. During
repayment the group leader collects the amount from all members
and repays it to the bank. If one member is not able to repay his/her
due installment at this time then other members of the group
arrange the amount and ensure repayment without credit default.

26. CREDIT TO JLGS FOR THE
INITIATION OF THE
BUSINESS
The maximum amount cannot exceed Rs. 50,000 per
borrower. But the amount will be credited on the basis of
activities.

27. WHO CAN FORM JLGS?
 Organizations, institutions and societies can form and can also help
in the formation of JLGs.
 The organizations, institutions and societies which facilitate JLGs
are under: Business Facilitators, NGOs, farmers clubs, Farmers
associations, Panchayat Raj institution (PRIs), Krishi Vikas
Kendras (KVKs), State agriculture Universities (SAUs), Agriculture
Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Bank
branches,cooperatives, Govt. dept. Input dealers, and Documents
writers (in cooperatives banks ) etc.