This document outlines objectives and content for a chapter on groups in community settings. It discusses designing groups for diverse adult populations, including benefits of support groups for women, men, older adults, and those dealing with issues like domestic violence, sexual offenses, and HIV/AIDS. Key aspects of developing group proposals and evaluating outcomes are reviewed. Considerations for effectively working with different groups like challenges in leading adult groups, attitudes needed for older adults, and factors that contribute to success of programs for domestic violence offenders. The importance of group work for cost-effective treatment delivery in community agencies is emphasized.

1. Groups in Community Settings
Chapter 11

2. Main Objectives:
● to introduce issues to consider in designing
various groups for adults
● to identify and examine challenges in leading
adult groups
● to examine the benefits of a support group with
women and a support group with men
● to provide examples of designing groups for
meeting the needs of diverse adult populations
● to present a rationale for the benefits of a group
for older adults
● to describe some unique characteristics of older
people and to explain some implications for
group work with this population
● to describe practical and professional
considerations for group work with older adults
● to identify attitudes, knowledge, and skills of
leaders required for effectively working with
older adults in groups
● to present guidelines for working with healthy
aging people in groups
● to examine the therapeutic value of grief work in
a group
Chapter 11

3. Research an idea to help with the ending of a group and be prepared to share

4. Critiquing Group Proposals. Form small groups in class
to critique the following proposals in this chapter that
describe different types of groups for various adult
populations:
a) A women’s support group for survivors of
incest (pp. 371-375)
b) A men’s group in a community agency (pp.
376-378)
c) An involuntary domestic violence group (pp.
379-383)
d) A group for the treatment of sex offenders
(pp. 384-388)
e) An HIV/AIDS support groups (pp. 390-394)

5. Group Work in Community Settings
● Group treatment is a preferred approach in many
community agencies devoted to provided services for diverse
client populations with a wide range of problems
● Group work enables community agencies to offer cost-
effective and clinically appropriate therapeutic services to
clients
● Group practitioners must have an understanding of the
functioning of agency systems

6. Group Proposals
● In designing a specific group, consider these components:
○ Description of the type of your group
○ Rationale for your group
○ Goals for your group
○ Marketing methods
○ Screening and selection of members
○ Structure of group- description of sessions
○ Methods for assessing outcomes

7. Examples of Groups in Community Settings
● Groups for weight control
● HIV/AIDS support groups
● Women’s and Men’s groups
● Domestic violence groups
● Sex offender groups
● Support groups for survivors of incest
● Older adult bereavement groups

8. Group Work with Women
● Advantages for women who participate in a women’s
group:
○ Discover their personal strengths and resources
○ Working on interpersonal relationships in the group context
○ Eliminating patriarchal oppression
○ Practicing and modeling new behaviors in a safe environment
○ Finding their “voice”
○ Opportunity to construct a gener analysis

9. Group Work with Men
● Advantages for men who participate in a men’s group:
○ The process assists men in clarifying their gender roles and
helps them cope with life's struggles
○ The group provider a context where men can bring all of their
feelings into the open and beheaded by the support of others
in the group
○ Most men’s groups contact a psychoeducational component
and an interpersonal, process-oriented dimension

10. Domestic Violence Offenders
● The efficacy of a group approach in treating domestic violence
offenders is supported by research
● The therapeutic factors, specifically, increased universality,
cohesion, and interpersonal learning are potent factors in the
reduction of group members’ domestic violence recidivism
● An example of a successful treatment program was a solution-
focused group that had a recidivism rate of 16.7% and a
completion rate of 92.9%

11. Sex Offenders
● Sex offenders often enter treatment wiht muych reluctance twoards
theapy and denial abou ttheir arresting incident and inappropraite
sexual behaavhor
● Many sex offenders have never recieved psychotherapy prior to their
conviction for a sexual offense, nor do they believe that they are in
need of treatment
● The mental set and attitudes of sex offenders, coupled wiht the serious
nature of their maladaptive behaviors, present counselors wiht a range
of challenges

12. HIV/AIDS
● A support group can provide a safe place for participants to:
○ Deal with the impact of possible social stigma of HIV/AIDS
○ Vent their anger and other feelings, enabling them to form a new
perspective on their situation
○ Find some measure of hope by sharing their fears and realizing that
they are not completely alone
○ Address their concerns about the various physical, psychological, and
spiritual tasks they are faced with

13. Older Adults
● The rapid population growth among older people has resulted in a
greater demands for mental health practitioners able to provide adequate
psychological services to this group
● Group work is one way to promote the positive aspects of aging and to
help participants cope with the developmental tasks of aging
● Groups offer unique advantages for older adults who have a great need to
be listened to and understood
● Older adults need a clear explanation of the group’s purposes and
benefits
● They have a range of life experiences and personal strengths

14. Discussion:
If you were going to design a specific type of group with adults, what
kind of group would you be most interested in proposing? What
kind of experiences and training would you need to facilitate such a
group?

15. Self-Assessment
Take the self-assessment again and compare to your
initial assessment. How did your answers change?

16. Assignment:
For next class...
Prepare for presentations on groups
Study for final