Groupwork practice in social work / Trevor Lindsay & Sue Orton

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The social work degree requires that students clearly demonstrate competence in working with groups. Many social work students will begin working with families, communities and organisations before they qualify and are regularly assessed on this groupwork practice through assignments and observation. Specialist skills are needed to cope in challenging groups and the authors look at how students can develop their existing skills to cope and respond to challenges.

The practical focus of this book on planning, organising, facilitating and evaluating groupwork will help students to develop their skills and pass assessment, increasing confidence during placement groupwork activities. A practical and accessible textbook, Groupwork Practice in Social Work is essential reading to help students through their complex and challenging Groupwork assessments. Key updates:

New material on working with service user groups New material for students who are being assessed in a group Updated case studies

This book is in the Transforming Social Work Practice series. All books in the series are affordable, mapped to the Social Work Curriculum, practical with clear links between theory & practice and written to the Professional Capabilities Framework.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• About the authors (p. vii)
• Preface to third edition (p. viii)
• Acknowledgements (p. ix)
• Introduction (p. x)
• Requirements for social work education
• Book structure
• Learning features
• Terminology
• Chapter 1 What is groupwork? (p. 1)
• What is a group?
• What is groupwork as a social work method?
• Why can groups help?
• Possible limitations of groupwork
• Who can groups help?
• The tasks of facilitation
• Chapter 2 Planning your group: initial planning decisions (p. 23)
• What preliminary decisions do you have to make in planning your group?
• Group Planner
• Chapter 3 Facilitation and co-facilitation (p. 47)
• Personal awareness
• Facilitator tasks
• Co-facilitation
• Group Planner
• Chapter 4 Setting up the group (p. 65)
• Offering the group
• Preliminary meetings
• Chapter 5 Group processes (p. 74)
• Understanding process
• Stages of group development
• Challenges of facilitating groupwork process
• Learning and being assessed in groups
• Chapter 6 Programming and activities (p. 92)
• Programming
• Activities
• Example games and exercises
• Group Planner
• Chapter 7 Issues of power and oppression (p. 108)
• Context
• Structuring and planning decisions
• Facilitation and co-facilitation
• Programmes
• Chapter 8 Coping with unexpected or unhelpful responses (p. 118)
• Thinking about problem areas and responses
• Mentoring
• Chapter 9 Monitoring, recording and evaluating your work (p. 129)
• Recording
• Methods of recording
• Evaluation
• Evaluation for practice evidence
• Group Planner
• Conclusion (p. 141)
• Appendix (p. 142)
• References (p. 146)
• Index (p. 151)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Trevor Lindsay draws on 35 years' experience of groupwork in the probation service and as a lecturer in social work. His practice experience includes specialised work with juvenile and adult offenders across a range of settings. He has taught groupwork at qualifying and post-qualifying levels and has published a number of research articles in groupwork, group learning and criminal justice. He is the editor of Social Work Interventions, also published by Learning Matters.
Sue Orton is an experienced educator and learning facilitator, with over 30 years' experience working in all sectors. She has qualifications and experience in Humanistic Psychology and Psychodrama and is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Sue now divides her time between supervising educators, trainers and coaches and her other passion, weaving.