One of the most effective ways of dealing with social problems is getting rid of the cause of the problem, not just finding a remedy for the result. Social Action in Group Work provides a useful overview of the history, philosophy, theory, and practice of social group work and action in the promotion of societal change. It shows practitioners how to use their skills effectively to achieve social change. This helpful book incorporates ideas developed in social movements, identifies their contributions to social group work practice, and illustrates effective practice in case experience with specific examples. It provides a much-needed understanding of the need for and process of social action, along with new ideas for theory building, teaching, and practice in group work. Numerous case examples from a variety of different settings become models that will be extremely useful for social work students, educators, professionals, and those who work directly with groups.This invigorating book is divided into three sections, each with a unique focus, and tied together by overlapping concepts, theories, and models. The first section, Ideas of Social Action, examines the history of social action in group work and proposes an integrated global framework for social work organization, education and practice. Advocacy and Empowerment, the middle section, is replete with case examples. The third section, Principles and Practice, explores the application of social group work in a variety of situations, including inter-ethnic conflict and a group of homeless men and women. Together, the sections make a strong stand for a more sensitive, empowerment oriented practice and for more advocacy by the worker and group. Everyone involved or interested in the process of social change through social action with groups will find Social Action in Group Work a wealth of practical information.

Help change the world by bringing ideas of social justice into your group work practice! Social workers who use hip-hop music to reach out to troubled adolescents. Practitioners who compare First Nations talking circles with social work practice with groups. A retired professor who transforms the way her fellow senior living center residents participate in their world. Fathers of children with spina bifida who help one another through an online discussion group. These and other examples you’ll discover in Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change will help you to assist groups to gain a sense of empowerment and create change in their own lives and communities. In Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change you’ll also find: definitions of social justice within the context of social work a proposal to help focus on social justice in teaching guidelines for group facilitators making decisions about self-disclosure studies of innovative group work discussion of the challenges to achieving social justice in group work valuable ways to ground social group work in rich cultural traditions This new book rides the crest of the growing wave of justice in social work with groups. Culled from the proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, it gives you the innovations and current thinking of professionals who, while coming from different cultural and professional backgrounds, are focused on helping all people enjoy the same rights and opportunities. If you want to use group work to challenge social inequality, Social Work with Groups will be a welcome addition to your library. Social action that gets results has to start somewhere—let it begin with you!

Social Groups in Action and Interaction reviews and analyzes the human group as it operates to create both social good and, potentially, social harm. It summarizes current knowledge and contemporary research, with real-world examples in succinct yet engaging chapters, to help students understand and predict group behavior. Unlike other texts, the book considers a wide range of topics—such as conformity, leadership, task performance, social identity, prejudice, and discrimination—from both an intragroup and an intergroup perspective. By looking at behavior both within and between groups, it bridges the gap between these interconnected approaches. The second edition is thoroughly updated to include new discussion of the biology and neuroscience of group formation, recent developments in social identity theory, and recent advances in the study of social networks. It also includes questions for review and discussion in the classroom. It provides the most comprehensive and essential resource for courses on group dynamics and behavior.

This comprehensive handbook presents major theories of social work practice with groups and explores contemporary issues in designing and evaluating interventions. Students and practitioners gain an in-depth view of the many ways that groups are used to help people address personal problems, cope with disabilities, strengthen families and communities, resolve conflict, achieve social change, and more. Offering authoritative coverage of theoretical, practical, and methodological concerns--coupled with a clear focus on empowerment and diversity--this is an outstanding text for group work and direct practice courses.

This book spotlights the unique contribution of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work to the social justice literature, and of group work to a social justice agenda. Although the term social justice may be relatively new in the counseling and psychology literature, the underlying values - attention to inequities, advocacy, and empowerment strategies for members of marginalized and oppressed populations – are not new in group work. Group leaders have been attending to these concerns all along, and group work itself is an ideal venue for the realization of social justice concerns. However, until now there has been a limited amount of scholarship on group work with a stated focus on social justice. This groundbreaking book emphasizes action through a practical approach, featuring research and case studies of social justice group work in community and school settings. Chapters highlight how group workers infuse social justice consciousness into their work, address social justice issues, and implement social justice practice. Authors review the history, practice, and future opportunities for social justice advocacy within group modalities. They also address guidelines for the training and supervision of practitioners engaging in social justice group work. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.

This book features research and case studies of social justice group work in community and school settings, guidelines for training and supervision, and recommendations for future social justice group work. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.

How can we better understand the past, present and future of Social Action through Music (SATM)? This ground-breaking book examines the development of the Red de Escuelas de Música de Medellín (the Network of Music Schools of Medellín), a network of 27 schools founded in Colombia’s second city in 1996 as a response to its reputation as the most dangerous city on Earth. Inspired by El Sistema, the foundational Venezuelan music education program, the Red is nonetheless markedly different: its history is one of multiple reinventions and a continual search to improve its educational offering and better realise its social goals. Its internal reflections and attempts at transformation shed valuable light on the past, present, and future of SATM. Based on a year of intensive fieldwork in Colombia and written by Geoffrey Baker, the author of El Sistema: Orchestrating Venezuela’s Youth (2014), this important volume offers fresh insights on SATM and its evolution both in scholarship and in practice. It will be of interest to a very varied readership: employees and leaders of SATM programs; music educators; funders and policy-makers; and students and scholars of SATM, music education, ethnomusicology, and other related fields.

No Text This standard text has stood the test of time, and is still in demand, 15 years after its first publication. It shows what works to help people identify what is wrong in their lives and how they can bring about change. Social and community workers, teachers, youth workers, community nurses, and workers in faith-related settings helped develop the approach and will be keenly interested in the ideas contained here. .".. a most important book which should become required reading for intended and experienced groupworkers alike. ... it describes an approach to groupwork developed and refined in practice and challenges much traditional thinking ... this practice paradigm is firmly rooted in an analysis of oppression, power and change and in clearly articulated values which inform a commitment to empowerment, anti-oppressive methods of work and social change. "Issues in Social Work Education

"What kind of citizen is no ordinary education book. By drawing on accessible and engaging discussions around the goals of schooling, it is imminently readable by a broad public. Neither fluff nor polemic, the theory and practice described in the book are based in solid empirical research and come out of the most influential frameworks for citizenship and democratic education of the last several decades (the "Three Kinds of Citizens" framework that emerged from collaboration between the author and Dr. Joseph Kahne as well as consultations with thousands of school teachers and civic leaders.) - This framework has been used in 67 countries to help teachers and school reformers think about how to structure educational programs and how schools can strengthen democratic societies. - This book pulls together a decade of research on schools into one place giving the reader a comprehensive look at why schools should be at the forefront of public engagement and how we can make that happen"--

Group work is a popular and widely used social work method. Focusing particularly on the central role of mutual aid in effective group work, this text presents the theoretical base, outlines core principles, and introduces the skills for translating those theories and principles into practice. A Mutual-Aid Model for Social Work with Groups will help readers to catalyze the strengths of group members such that they become better problem solvers in all areas of life from the playroom to the boardroom. Increased coverage of evaluation and evidence-based practice speaks to the field’s growing concern with monitoring process and assessing progress. The book also includes: worker-based obstacles to mutual aid, their impact, and their antidotes pre-group planning including new discussion on curriculum groups group building by prioritizing certain goals and norms in the new group the significance of time and place on mutual aid and the role of the group worker maintaining mutual aid during so-called individual problem solving an expanded discussion of anti-oppression and anti-oppressive practice unlocking a group’s potential to make difference and conflict useful special considerations in working with time-limited, open-ended, and very large groups. Case examples are used throughout to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, and exercises for class or field, help learners to immediately apply conceptual material to their practice. All resources required to carry out the exercises are contained in over 20 appendices at the end of the book. Key points at the end of each chapter recap the major concepts presented, and a roster of recommended reading for each chapter points the reader to further resources on each topic. Designed to support ethical and successful practice, this textbook is an essential addition to the library of any social work student or human service practitioner working with groups.