What Is A Group PDF

09/29/24 1  Social, family, and informal groups  These are groups that you joined because of your life circumstances  Important: you build awareness of your and other people’s behavior and intentions when in these groups  Caution: tendency or likelihood...

09/29/24 1  Social, family, and informal groups  These are groups that you joined because of your life circumstances  Important: you build awareness of your and other people’s behavior and intentions when in these groups  Caution: tendency or likelihood of transferring some of the behaviors, reactions, or your unspoken ‘rules’ or expectations from these groups into ‘groupwork’ groups, especially when you start to facilitate them 09/29/24 2 Working groups  The term group covers a wide range of gatherings and forms (i.e. from long-term training, seminars, and workshops, to formal and informal meetings and gatherings, and personal and therapeutic groups  The term work suggests a purpose  Meaning: working groups are groups that have been formed for a specific purpose or issue with a set of agenda or reason for gathering 09/29/24 3 Small Groups A group is defined as:  at least 2 people but usually more  gathered with a common purpose, or interest,  in a cognitive, affective, and social interchange  in single or repeated encounters sufficient for participants to form impressions of one another  creating a set of norms for their functioning together  developing goals for their collective activity  evolving a sense of cohesion so that they think of themselves and  are thought of by others as an entity distinct from all other collectivities 09/29/24 4 the definition accounts for the ff:  size  location  frequency of meetings  purpose for convening  goals for group activity which emerge out of the interaction  mutual influence  creates it own style and culture  adoption of group norms  establishment of a sense of bond, cohesiveness that grows out of members attachment to one another and to the group as a whole 09/29/24 5 versus: ‘Aggregate’ —people bounded by:  location usually experiencing common influences;  gathering of people without a common bond or significant interaction; may share some characteristics and are therefore thought of together as similar, but are not organized; a simple collection of people 09/29/24 6 Reasons why groups can help: 1. Being in groups is a normal part of our lives: We spend much of our time in groups Experience in groups provides opportunity to improve part of our human functioning Individuals develop skills in working with others in a group i.e. communicating, relation- ship-building and asserting oneself—these can be transferred to their lives outside 09/29/24 7  Reasons why groups can help 2. People with similar life experiences, situations and problems can be a source of support to each other:  Feelings of people experiencing a particularly damaging and hurtful experiences or are in very difficult situations i.e. isolation, loneliness, loss, guilt, etc.  Sharing similar life experiences leads to a realization that:  their situation is not unique  they are not alone in such situations  Their emotions, feelings and reactions are normal and valid  Gaining acceptance and respect from group members can be more powerful experience and greatly increase feelings of self-worth 09/29/24 8  3. Groupwork can be empowering: must be an integral part of the group experience  Worker’s ‘power can’ be balanced by the power that comes from the group [members] because of their greater number  Members gain courage and confidence thus become more vocal, free, open, and participatory  Empowerment comes  through understanding how the problem lies outside the individual and results from oppressive practices and behaviors where these are founded  Therapeutic experience as an empowering process  Clients put in touch with resources available to them  Clients are encouraged to take responsibility for their own choices and improvement/ growth  Bringing people together to help and support each other is in itself empowering; being with the group adds to each others’ resources  Opportunity for collective action or collectively confront forces of oppression each similarly experience  09/29/24 9 4. Groups offer opportunities for giving and receiving help In a group each member has a number of other people available who can offer support, advice, and suggestions It is also beneficial to have opportunities to give help Important to people who due to their difficulties have feelings of being worthless or inadequate, and whose self-esteem is low---being able to both receive and give can provide the person an emotional boost and increased feelings of worth Provides an opportunity to get away from one’s own problems by helping with another’s 09/29/24 10 5. Groups offer opportunities for social comparison Observing others’ behavior, members may see themselves in each others’ situation and character/ personality Groups have capacity to hold ‘big feelings’ such as shame, terror, rage which individual members may find themselves as different or similar with the others Feelings that are unmet, unheard, and unseen may be recognized and can be managed through sharing of common feelings of anger, fear, sorrow and joy and a desire for close relationships 09/29/24 11  6. Groups offer learning opportunities (groups for learning) 2. Group members have the opportunity to learn from each other:  People who share problems can learn from others about effective ways of dealing with situations that arise  Possibility of learning from each other through a process of discovery—  learning may be more meaningful and natural through discussion and exploration of ideas  Arriving at solutions through discovery with others promote deeper learning than being presented with a ‘ready-made’ solution  Learning from observing others’ behaviors such as implications of outcomes and consequences of behaviors 09/29/24 12  6. Groups offer learning opportunities (groups for learning) 3. Group provides opportunities for acquiring information about how one’s behavior is experienced and responded to by others:  feedbacks from a member who are in similar situations or characteristics /profile such as age, ethnicity, class, etc. can be more powerful  Members are able to see how others relate to each other and what responses they get (feedbacks are greater in group than in a one-to-one contact)  Activities can be provided to encourage feedback and utilize this to help individuals learn about impact of their behavior on others and re-examine their actions 09/29/24 13 6. Groups offer learning opportunities (groups for learning) 4. Group offers opportunities for trying out new behaviors  Provides a safe environment in which people can experiment with behavior that is new to them  Members may try solutions that had not previously occurred to them without feeling threatened  Techniques: rehearsing or practicing assertiveness in a simulated situation 09/29/24 14  Groups provide hope and 7. optimism  Belief in the possibility of improvement as a major factor in recovery  Self-efficacy (Bandura)—a belief in one’s capabilities to organize and exercise the course of action required to mange prospective solutions  Efficacy is increased—the fact that people come together to work on a problem suggest HOPE for the problem to be remedied  Members observe and hear each other in the process of solving their problems and how they have managed in the past—increases optimism and hope that they will be able to overcome obstacles  Role of facilitator: build self-efficacy of members:  emphasize members’ strengths and capacity to change  Provide information and examples of successes in the group or in other groups 09/29/24 15 Reasons why groups can help: Being in groups is a normal part of our lives: People with similar life experiences, situations and problems can be a source of support to each other: Groupwork can be empowering: must be an integral part of the group experience Groups offer opportunities for giving and receiving help Groups offer opportunities for social comparison Groups offer learning opportunities (groups for learning) Groups provide hope and optimism 09/29/24 16