Chapter 1. Group work perspectives

Use the links below to navigate the page.

• Group work theory and practice
• Responding to need
• A brief history of group work
• Fields of social work group work practice
• An example of group work practice in the field of older women’s homelessness at YWCA Canberra

Group work theory and practice

By Monica Short

Group work is a well-established practice for many professions including social work (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2020; International Federation of Social Workers, 2024). Its diversity of applicability within education, health and human services makes it both fun and difficult to define. After all, how can we ensure that the richness of social work group work is comprehensively represented within one definition or even one publication? The reality is that we cannot; however, we can enjoy thinking about it.

Towards a definition of group work

By Monica Short

McCarthy et al. (2022, p. 11) refer to the Association for Specialists in Group Work in defining group work, proposing it is a “primary method empowering people to achieve their objectives.” Facilitation is applied to a dynamic gathering of people (that is, a group) so they can meet their individual, relational and collective goals (that is, work) (McCarthy et al., 2022).

In terms of social work, Lindsay and Orton (2014, p. 7) state that:

[s]ocial group work is a method of social work that aims, in an informed way, through purposive group experiences, to help individuals and groups to meet individual and group needs, and to influence and change personal, group and organisational and community problems.

Group work can be a positive or negative experience for participants. Positive group work aims to support people in achieving their collective goals and outcomes (Sharry, 2007). It helps people meet their needs, which they may not have been able to do without the support, encouragement and insights from the group (Sharry, 2007). Social workers use this inherent strength and potential of groups in their practice.

Responding to need

By Karen Dempsey

Social work practitioners often work with small groups of 3 to 12 people. Social work group work, abiding with Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication model, specifically engages with group members’ met needs or unmet needs and the associated emotions (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015). Group work inspired by Rosenberg’s nonviolence or compassionate approach encourages people to identify and make a connection between emotions and the met or unmet needs that underpin them (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015; Dempsey, 2018).

People often find the Nonviolent Communication model empowering because once they have identified the unmet need, they can generate many ways by which they can meet that need in their lives; that is, they can take responsibility for their own needs and actions (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015).

For instance, the emotion might be frustration, but the need underpinning that frustration will be different for each person (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015). It could be the need for affirmation, connection, understanding, equality, to be heard, peace, safety, recognition, acceptance, or to contribute (Rosenberg & Chopra, 2015).

A brief history of group work

By Monica Short

Group work has a long history. Social workers need an awareness of the extensiveness and realities of history and to avoid assumptions and embedding oppressive stereotypes within their practice (Green & Baldry, 2008).

For example, First Nations peoples, who have the oldest living cultures in the world, are known for their group work activities, such as facilitating talking circles. Talking circles are a cultural experience where power is shared, and people sit together and take turns talking; this ancient and contemporary practice relies on storytelling, listening, and narratives (Brown & Di Lallo, 2020). Engaging with Indigenous knowledges can add value to group operations (Joseph & Hall, 2022). This engagement needs to be done carefully so as not to appropriate or misappropriate knowledge learnt.

Meanwhile, in the 1980s, Pâquet-Deehy et al.’s (1985) foundational work, A typology of social work practice with groups, the authors interviewed 152 social workers finding that group work practice can be clustered into three distinct areas distinguished by focus and outcomes:

• Personal change groups, where the social worker is the therapist, educator and group leader;
• Developmental groups, where the social worker is the facilitator and at times the lead; and
• Social change groups, where the social worker is the resource person and may at times seem peripheral to what is happening in the group.

Pâquet-Deehy et al.’s (1985) typology is similar to Tuckman’s (1965) scholarship. Tuckman (1965) identifies different types of groups – therapeutic, training, educational, and social groups – which can be interpersonal or task-focused. Tuckman (1965) argues that groups go through phases.

The following list of phases is inspired by Tuckman’s (1965) work:

• Forming: the coming together and the forming of interpersonal and task boundaries,
• Norming: understanding the task to be undertaken and the group processes required,
• Storming: developing functional relationships and trust, resolving issues and preparing for the group activity,
• Performing: collaboration to achieve an outcome, and
• Adjourning: which is the concluding of the group (Tuckman, 1965).
• Mourning: missing attending the group and meeting with the members. Please note, some consider mourning as a part of the adjourning stage. We have included it as its own process as it can continue after the group adjourns.

Fields of social work group work practice

By Monica Short

The reasons, objectives and goals of a group will vary according to need (Bundey et al., 1989). Group work can occur in most, if not all, social work fields of practice, and at the micro (connections between persons), meso (linkages between settings) and macro (organisation of social institutions) levels (Bronfenbrener, 1979).

Group work levels can be described as follows:

• Micro level often involves individuals and their families coming together to reflect on an issue and make change. It includes family planning conferences for seniors, couples counselling meetings, case management sessions with individuals and their significant others, children and family access sessions, and family story work.
• Meso level involves communities coming together to make change. It includes support groups, therapeutic group interventions and interagency meetings.
• Macro level focuses on national or international issues. It includes national policy and community consultations, national research projects such as via focus groups, national discussions, and town hall meetings.

An example of group work practice in the field of older women’s homelessness at YWCA Canberra

By Cara Jacobs

YWCA Canberra (2024a) is a feminist not-for-profit community services organisation. One of the groups we provide is the Seniors Group for older women who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness. This group formed in recognition of the fact that older women are the most rapidly increasing population group at risk of homelessness in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2019). Across Australia, the statistics are alarming. Between 2011 and 2023 there was a 40% increase in the number of older women experiencing homelessness (ABS, 2012; ABS, 2023). Our mothers, aunts and grandmothers could be, or become, one of the many women very soon to be at risk of facing homelessness.

The Seniors Group program is part of our YWCA Canberra (2024b) Housing Program and specifically provides support, education and resources to older women who are homeless and may be experiencing isolation. The group aims to decrease-social-isolation, increase-social-connection and support for older women to improve-their-health-and-wellbeing; their housing needs are addressed through strengths-based, gender and trauma-informed person-centred case management approaches (YWCA Canberra, 2024b). Service users participate in the design and delivery of the group program to ensure it meets their needs.

The operation of this group does not happen in isolation. At YWCA Canberra we engage across multiple levels—micro, macro and meso levels—to challenge the systems and structures that perpetuate oppression and inequality. We ensure service users have access to all the housing, support and resources to address their needs (Bronfrenbrener, 1979). YWCA Canberra are mindful that gender inequality permeates every aspect of women’s lives, including the gender pay gap, prevalence of part-time and casualised work, meaning that women face significant barriers that hinder their financial stability and security (for more information please see YWCA Canberra, 2019).

The Seniors Group is consistent with social-work-values of social-justice, empowering people and improving the wellbeing of people experiencing-vulnerability (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2020). The group challenges societal discrimination and negative stereotypes that exist and focuses on harnessing participant’s strengths such as their “wealth-of-experience, wisdom, and-skills that they can-contribute” (Prinsloo, 2019, p. 14). The group also encourages sharing of resources, mutual support, providing hope and, over time, peer feedback to assist participants to “form-a-sense of [themselves]” (Lindsay & Orton, 2014, p. 6).

Critical social work and human rights approaches assist in understanding the structural problems that impact older women’s disadvantage and social isolation (Hughes & Heycox, 2018). While anti-oppressive-practice assists in making connections between individual group member-challenges and the wider structural and social problems (Mullaly, 2010). The group aims to empower participants to challenge-their-oppression. This is because addressing housing insecurity among older women is not just a matter of providing shelter and support; it is about dismantling the structural barriers that perpetuate inequality and injustice. By confronting these issues head-on, we can create a more equitable society where all women have the opportunity to thrive.

The Seniors Group incorporates many of the benefits of group work, such as giving and receiving support, providing a sense of hope to participants, cost-effectiveness, and providing learning opportunities (Lindsay & Orton, 2014). Furthermore, consistent with anti-oppressive social work practice, group programs are an effective way of empowering disadvantaged people to understand their social environment, identify their resources and strengths and take action to resolve societal challenges (Dominelli, 2012).