Suchergebnisse

The interactions among and between group members and a social worker often generate natural interpersonal tensions in group life. If handled with skill, these difficult moments have the potential to become significant turning points in members' ability to feel safe in the group and in their motivation to achieve the group's purpose through a mutual aid process. In this article the authors examine five areas of group life that are often sources of tension-filled situations. These areas are group composition, group purpose and the working agreement, the worker's authority, members' interpersonal relationships, painful material, and environmental factors. The authors recommend professional interventions aimed at converting high-tension moments into incidents that promote trust, caring, and mutual aid.

In a therapy group of deinstitutionalized retarded mothers, members influenced the workers to modify their approach and provide more effective comprehensive services. The perception that educational and therapeutic experiences must be kept separate is challenged; the use of basic principles in such a special group is validated.

Activity or discussion group experience can open the door to serving a hard-to-reach population — the parents of children in special education programs