Group work on the edge. Embracing the messiness of group facilitation with marginalised peoples

Neil Richard Hall

doi:10.1921/gpwk.v29i2.1283

Authors

Neil Richard Hall Western Sydney University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3045-3612

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/gpwk.v29i2.1283

Abstract

This poster explores concepts of discomfort and messiness in terms of what they mean for participants, facilitators and auspicing agencies of group work. Where 'tidy' theory does not prepare social workers for the 'messiness' of group work practice, this poster proposes a model for working with group processes that captures both linear and organic understandings. Further, the poster explores opportunities for maximising the benefits of group work in the context of unpredictable group processes as well as participants’ and facilitators’ potentially chaotic lives.

Author Biography

Neil Richard Hall, Western Sydney University

Director of Academic Program (Social Work & Community Welfare) Assistant Director, Men's Health Information & Resource Centre Chair, IASWG Australia NZ ChapterSchool of Social Sciences & Psychology, Western Sydney University

References

Benjamin J, Bessant J & Watts R, 1997, Making groups work: rethinking practice, St. Leonards, NSW, Allen & Unwin

Cournoyer B, 2016, The Social Work Skills Handbook, Cengage Learning US.

Crago H, 2006, Couple, family and group work: first steps in interpersonal intervention, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press

Egan G, 2014, The Skilled Helper: a problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping,10th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

McDermott, F 2002, Inside group work, Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin

Prochaska JO, DiClemente CC & Norcross JC, 1992, ‘In search of how people change: applications to the addictive behaviors’, American Psychologist, 47, pp1102-1114.

Slattery P, 1994, Questions of Choice, NSW Department of Education.

Tuckman BE, 1965, ‘Development sequence in small groups’, Psychological Bulletin, 63, pp384-399.

Yalom ID & Leszez M, 2005, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 5th Ed, New York: Basic Books