Week 3 Text Book Content

1. WORKING WITH GROUPS
AND COMMUNITIES
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2. Types of Groups
(Zastrow, 1981)
Recreation or Skill groups
To provide activities: enjoyment &
exercise, skills development
Professional leaders or be leaderless
Educational groups
Acquire knowledge & learn complex
skills
Leader is a professional with
expertise
Resembles a class
Problem-solving & Decision-
making groups
SSW providers and clients may be
involved
SSW meet to work on practice issues
Clients meet to influence policy
Formal leader or a leader emerges
Self-help groups
Emphasize confession, testimony and
reconcurrence support
Member have internal understanding
Members are highly motivated and
dedicated
“helper therapy” process
Operate within a minimal budget
Socialization groups
Develop/change attitudes and behaviours
Become more socially acceptable
Social skill development, self confidence
and planning for the future
Skilled leadership
Therapeutic or Treatment groups
Severe emotional or personal problems
Leadership requires considerable skill
Explore problems & develop strategies
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3. Stages of Group Development
(Zastrow, 1981)
1. Orientation
• Commitment
• Task roles emerge
2. Authority
• Members challenge
• Power and control conflict
• Resolved - sharing of feelings
• Drop out
3. Negotiation
• norms and task roles
• cohesion and sharing
4. Functional
• implement plans and
accomplish tasks
• few groups reach the end
of this stage
5. Disintegration
• Generally disband at this
stage
• Goals accomplished
• SSW bring a treatment to
an end
• Enable the members to
move on
3

4. Group Work Intervention Steps
(Zastrow, 1981)
Intake
• meet individually
• gather information
• assess need for change
• evaluates capacity for
group
Assessment &
Planning
• group process
intervention plan
developed
Group Intervention
• group roles, norms,
expectations, values,
emerge
• influence the activities
and relationships
• SSW facilitates
Evaluation and
Termination
• dealing with issues
arising from termination
• evaluate process
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5. Roles & Group Dynamics
(Shulman, 1979)
• Personalities are
translated into group
interactions
• Roles emerge in the
interplay of group
dynamic and group
process
• Roles and patterns
function within the
dynamics or process of
group to move towards
stability
Common roles
• Scapegoat
• Deviant
• Leader
• Gatekeeper
• Defensive
• Quiet
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6. Community Organizing &
Social Service Work
6

7. Community Organizing &
Social Service Work
Definition
Community Organization is a social intervention which
seeks to maximize the ability of disadvantaged
people to influence their environment, by developing
power to: acquire resources; change inadequate
institutions and laws; or build new ones, more
responsive to their needs and those of all human
beings.
(Lee,1999 p.55)
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8. Types of Communities
(Hick, 2006, p.99)
Geographic Community (Hick 2006)
• Specific neighborhood
• City district or local ward
• Specific geographical boundaries
8

9. Membership Community (Hick 2006)
Sense of belonging to a specific group
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10. Self Help Community (Hick 2006)
Consisting of people with similar
problems or difficulties
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11. MODELS OF COMMUNITY
WORK
(Lee, 1999; Hick 2010; Rothman,
1970)
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12. Locality Development
(Rothman as referenced in Hick 2010, p. 123)
• Participation of a broad
range of people
• Focus on goal
determination and action
• Emphasizes community
building
• Enable people to solve
their own problems
• Improve communication
and achieve consensus
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13. Social Planning
(Rothman as referenced in Hick 2010, p. 123)
• Gather information/data about a particular problem
• Deliberately planned and controlled process
• Not system change
13

14. Social Action
(Rothman as referenced in Hick 2010, p. 123)
• Disadvantaged groups
• Redistribute power
• Take action - exploiting or oppressing
• Conflict, confrontation, direct action
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15. 4. Pragmatic
(Lee, 1999)
• Address complex organizational and developmental
needs and social/political constraints
• Direct participation of the community
• Identify local social problems
• Produce structural change
15

16. Model Locality
Development
Social
Planning
Social
Action
Pragmatic
Description Community initiative to
identify & achieve
community goals
Experts using
technical
expertise –identify
& plan how to
address
designated social
problems
Organization of
disadvantaged
to make
demand for
social justice
Addresses
complex
organizational
&
developmental
community
needs &
social/political
constraints
Relationship of
Worker &
Community
People are subjects and
co-workers on problems
People are objects
of intervention
People are
subjects & co-
workers on
problems
People are
subjects & co-
workers on
problems
Primary Worker
Role
Catalyst/facilitator Expert planner Catalyst
/facilitator
Facilitator/
agitator &
strategist
Primary Means Consensus Statistics &
Reports
Conflict,
confrontation &
negotiation
Conflict,
confrontation &
consensus
Ends Suitable sharing of
community resources
among members
Improved services Readjustment of
power between
community &
institutions
Empowerment
and social
justice
16

17. Core Skills in Community Organizing
(Lee, 1999)
Listening
Information gathering
Analysis
Facilitation
Negotiation
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18. Roles in Community Organizing
(Lee, 1999)
Initiator
• Getting things started
• Stimulating awareness
• Encouraging the belief - possibility of change
Encourager/ supporter
• Encourage people to believe in themselves and their abilities and the ability to learn
Popular Educator
• Assist people to examine their old and new experiences
• so they can identify the root of their problems,
• the things they know and what they need to learn in order to
• come together and confront oppressive systems
Mediator
• Assisting people to see their common humanity or at least common interests
• May involve reaching an understanding of legitimate needs
• Building mutually respectful and trusting relationships
Planner
• Strategist, advisor
• Researcher, issues identification, prioritizing
• Must be able to plan a course of action with the community
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19. Community Work Intervention Steps
(Lee, 1999)
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1. Entry
2. Data Collection and Analysis
3. Goal Setting
4. Action Setting
5. Action Taking
6. Evaluation & Termination/Re-
planning

20. References
Compton, B R., Galaway B., & Cournoyer. B. R. (2005). Social work
processes. 7th Edition. Toronto, Thompson Brooks/Cole.
Hick, S. (2006). Social work in Canada an introduction. 2nd Edition. Toronto,
Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
Hick, S. (2010). Social work in Canada an introduction. Toronto, ON., Canada:
Thompson Educational Publishing.
Lee, B. (1999). Pragmatics of community organization. Mississauga,
Common Act Press.
Shulman, L. (1979). The skills of helping individuals and groups. Itasca,
Illinois, F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.
Wittaker, J. K. (1974). Models of group development: Implications for social
group work process” In Robert W. Klenk, and Robert M. Ryan. The Practice
of Social Work. 2nd Edition. Belmont, California, Wadsworth Publishing
Company.
Zastrow, C. (1981). The Practice of social work. Homewood, Illinois, The
Dorsey Press.
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