Social group work involves helping individuals enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences. It aims to help people cope with personal, group, and community problems. The key aspects of social group work are forming groups, setting specific objectives, establishing purposeful relationships between workers and groups, individualizing to each person's needs, guiding group interactions, utilizing democratic decision making, having a flexible organizational structure, providing progressive programming, leveraging community resources, and continuously evaluating. Important skills for social group workers include relationship building, analyzing group situations, participating with and facilitating groups, addressing group feelings, developing programs, accessing resources, and evaluating outcomes.

1. Social group work
GROUP,GROUP WORK:
DEFINITION,MEANING,PRINCIPLES,SKILLS,PROCESS

2. Group
� A social group can be defined as any two or
more people in social interaction who share
expectations and responsibilities to the group
and who share unifying characteristic or sense
of purpose.

3. � A group can be defined as two or more humans
who interact with one another, accept
expectations and obligations as members of the
group, and share a common identity.

4. Social group work- Definition
� According to Murphy, “Social group work is a method
of social work that helps persons to enhance their
social functioning through purposeful group
experiences and to scope more effectively with their
personal, group and community problems”.

5. � According to Trecker, “Group work is a method
through which individuals in groups in social
agency settings are helped by a worker who
guides their interactions in programme activities
so that they may relate themselves to others and
experiences growth opportunities in
accordance with their needs and capacities to
the end of individual, group and community
development”.

6. � According to KONOPKA(1963) Social group work
is a method of social work which helps
individuals to enhance their social functioning
through purposeful group experience and to
cope more effectively with thier personal, group
or community problems

7. Social group work - Objectives
� To teach the individual to live & work together and participate
in the group activities for their intellectual,emotional& physical
growth.
� To live a good life within the group and family. The individual is
also taught to work together with other people & participate in
different activities.
� To develop individual personality& behaviour by using different
group work process
� To prepare the individual to learn how to safe responsibility in a
democracy style of working.
� To give opportunity to them who have potentiality, worth and
dignity of leadership

8. � To make best use of leisure time
� To learn division of labour & specialization of role just to
indicate to play individual role in the group
� To provide suitable task to the individual according to
her/his skill, knowledge and interest
� To widen ones horizon
� To prepare people for social change
� To apply group therapy in need of physical, mental and
emotional adjustment

9. Social group work - Characteristics
� Group work practiced by group itself
� It is based on humanitarian philosophy
� It gives aspiration to help each other
� Group work provides more information and more
skill.
� It develop human personality
� To know the available resource of the group.
� Aims at developing leadership.

10. Trecker’s 10 Principles of Social Group
Work
� 1. The Principle of Planned Group Formation
� Group is the basic unit through which the service is
provided to the individual, consequently, the agency
and the worker responsible for the formation of group or
the acceptance into the agency of already formed
groups must be aware of the factors inherent in the
group situation that make the given group a positive
potential for individual growth and for meeting
recognizable needs

11. � 2. The Principle of Specific Objectives
� Specific objectives for individual as well as group
development must be consciously formulated by the
worker in harmony with group wishes and capacities
and in keeping with agency function

12. � 3. The Principle of Purposeful Worker Group
Relationship
� A consciously purposeful relationship must be
established between the worker and the group
members based on the worker‘s acceptance of the
group members as they are and upon the groups
willingness to accept help from the worker because of
the confidence the members have in him and in the
agency

13. � 4. The Principle of Continuous Individualization
� In group work it is recognized that groups are different
and that individuals utilize group experience in a variety
of ways to meet their differing needs; consequently,
continuous individualization must be practised by the
worker. Groups and individuals in the group must be
understood as developing and changing.

14. � 5. The Principle of Guided Group Interaction
� In group work the primary source of energy which
propels the group and influences the individuals to
change are the interaction and reciprocal responses of
the members. The group worker influence this interaction
by the type and the quality of participation

15. � 6. The Principle of Democratic Group Self
Determination
� In group work the group must be helped to make its own
decisions and determine its own activities, taking the
maximum amount of responsibility in line with the
capacity and ability. The primary source of control over
the group is the group itself

16. � 7. The Principle of Flexible Functional
Organization
� In group work, the group worker guides the group by
setting up an organization to meet the group needs. The
organization thus established should be understood by
the group members, should be flexible and encouraged
only if it meets the felt need of the members. The
organization should be adaptive and should change as
the group changes.

17. � 8. The Principle of Progressive Programme
Experiences
� In social group work, the program experiences in which
the group engages should begin at the level of the
member interest, need, experience and competence
and should progress in relation to the developing
capacity of the group.

18. � 9. The Principle of Resource Utilization
� In social group work, the total environment of the
agency and the community possess resources which
should be utilized to enrich the content of group
experience for individuals and for the group

19. � 10. The Principle of Evaluation
� In social group work, continuous evaluation of process
and programmes in terms of outcomes is essential.
Worker, group and agency share in this procedure as a
means of guaranteeing this greatest possible self
fullfilment

20. Skills of social group work
Trecker has listed the following basic skills of social group work.
1. Skill in Establishing Purposeful Relationship
2. .Skill in Analysing the Group Situation
3. Skill in Participation with the Group
4. Skill in Dealing with Group Feeling
5. Skill in Programme Development
6. Skill in Using Agency and Community Resources
7. Skill in Evaluation

21. 1. Skill in Establishing Purposeful Relationship
a) The group worker must be skillful in gaining the
acceptance of the group and in relating himself to the
group on a positive professional basis.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping individuals in
the group to accept one another and to join with the group
in common pursuits.

22. � 2.Skill in Analysing the Group Situation
a) The worker must be skillful in judging the developmental
level of the group to determine what the level is, what the
group needs and how quickly the group can be expected
to move. This calls for skill in direct observation of groups
on a basis of analysis and judgment.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping the group to
express ideas, work out objectives, clarify immediate goals
and see both its potentialities and limitations as a group.

23. � 3.Skill in Participation with the Group
a) The group worker must be skillful in determining,
interpreting, assuming and modifying his own roles with the
group.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping, group
members to participate, to locate leadership among them
and to take responsibility for their own activities.

24. � 4. Skill in Dealing with Group Feeling
a) The group worker must be skilful in controlling his own
feelings about the group and must study each new
situation with a high degree of objectivity.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping groups to
release their own feelings, both positive and negative. He
must be skillful in helping groups to analyze situations as
part of the working through group or intergroup conflicts.

25. � 5.Skill in Programme Development
a) The group worker must be skillful in guiding group
thinking so that interests and needs will be revealed and
understood.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping groups to
develop programmes, which they want as a means
through which their needs may be met.

26. � 6. Skill in Using Agency and Community Resources
a) The group worker must be skillful in locating and then
acquainting the group with various helpful resources which
can be utilized by the members for programme purpose.
b) The group worker must be skillful in helping certain
individual members to make use of specialized services by
means of referral that cannot be met within the group.

27. � 7.Skill in Evaluation
a) The group worker must have skill in recording the
development processes that are going on as he works with
the group.
b) The group worker must be skillful in using his records and
in helping the group to review its experiences as a means
of improvement.

28. Group work process
� Intake
� Study
� Objectives
� Goal setting
� Intervention strategies
� Evaluation