Spring 2026 SOWK 487w Week 08 - Understanding Social Work Groups

Spring 2026 SOWK 487w Week 08 - Understanding Social Work Groups

title: Spring 2026 SOWK 487w Week 08 - Understanding Social Work Groups date: 2026-03-11 12:26:03 location: Heritage University tags:

• Heritage University
• BASW Program
• SOWK 487w presentation_video: > “” description: >

In week six, we transitioned to from working with families to working with groups for the rest of the semester. We spent time looking at online groups and last week I was sick for presentation. We will do presentations this week. Students also will read Hepworth et al. (2023) and content focused on understanding the foundation of social work groups. It provides a strong understanding of the various groups we will discuss for the rest of the semester. This session is designed to help orient us to group work, dynamics, and general processes. The agenda is as follows:

• Family Treatment Modality Research Presentations
• Overview of working with groups
• Practice with a development group
• Group dynamics and roles
• Working in a circle activity

Check In Question - Describe Your Day as an Animal

[Whole Class Activity] Have everybody go through and respond to the check in question. “If you were to describe your day today as an animal, what animal would you it it be today and why?”

[Whole Class Activity] Explain activity: Often when starting groups, if you just ask how people are doing, they will not answer or it will be “ok” if pressed. In class, I tend to ask you to give a simple rating scale (thumbs up to thumbs down). Another way to make it concrete and solicit more conversation is to make it abstract.

• Spend time talking about other options for this type of simple activity.
  • Bridges and 5 point scale
  • Other check-in questions (weather cycle, home appliance, fashion accessory, etc. )

Agenda

• Family Treatment Modality Research Presentations
• Overview of working with groups
• Practice with a development group
• Group dynamics and roles
• Working in a circle activity

Family Treatment Modality Research Presentations

Complete presentations

Fight Club Movie Introduction

What are groups used for in social work practice? We are going to watch a clip from a movie, Fight Club. There is some strong language and themes. We are only going to watch about 5 - 10 minutes. You can step out if you are easily offended. [Activity] Watch a scene from Fight Club (5:41-12:26) Discuss some scenes from support groups in movies. How would you categorize the groups he was participating in?

Working with Groups

Group work can be some of the most challenging and rewarding work we can do as social workers. But what does it mean to work with groups?

• Definition
  • A group is a collection of people with shared interests who come together to pursue a goal.
  • Can be individual, group, organization, and/or community goals.
• Examples Groups can help many different people with different needs, such as people with CD issues, weight loss groups, family support groups, and advocacy groups.
  • Social workers use groups to gather information about clients and to help plan interventions through staffing clients or case conferences.

Benefits of Groups

Nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by the unselfish cooperation of many individuals. – Albert Einstein We were all born into a group (family) and eventually became members of multiple groups at work, church, and other venues. Humans are social animals and need to belong, to be accepted by others.

Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2015) describe several benefits of groups.

Mutual Assistance is the opportunity a group offers to give and receive help from others. The help given could include companionship, material assistance, emotional or spiritual support, access to resources, and others.

• Connecting with others helps reduce isolation and allows the sharing thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Groups allow us to put our problems into perspective and identify with others who share our feelings and interests.
• Testing new behaviors, groups allow us to test new behaviors in a safer environment than might ordinarily be available.
• Goal achievement occurs when a group of individuals generate ideas, solutions, and responses in more significant numbers than a single person, which increases the likelihood that a problem can be solved. Decision-making in a group is the capacity to bring the wisdom of many to the decision-making process. Members’ buy-in is especially important when they are expected to carry out decisions made in the group.

Types of Groups

There are two main types of groups: task and treatment groups. Your textbook also includes the topic of self-help groups. [Discussion] What kinds of groups have you been involved with or seen [Discussion] What is a local example of each group?

Treatment Groups

The type most of us think about doing group work as social workers in treatment groups. These are any groups primarily focusing on member’s emotional and social needs.

• Support groups help members cope with life stresses by enhancing and teaching coping skills so that members can more effectively adapt to complex life events (e.g., breast cancer survivors group, bereavement support group).
• Educational groups focus on helping members learn about and cope with a specific topic that impacts them (e.g., an adolescent sexuality group, a diabetes management group, a heart attack recovery group, a psychoeducational group for relatives of people with major mental illnesses).
• Growth groups stress self-improvement, offering members opportunities to expand their capabilities and self-awareness and make personal changes (e.g., a personal development group, a communication enhancement group for couples). Growth groups contrast with other groups in that they promote socioemotional health rather than alleviating socioemotional challenges. -Therapy groups help members change behavior, cope with or ameliorate personal problems, or recover from social or health trauma (e.g., an addiction recovery group, an anger management group, an interpersonal violence survivors group). Support and growth are emphasized, using the group process and the social worker’s interventions as catalysts for change.
• Socialization groups increase members’ communication and social skills, often using activities to improve interpersonal relationships. Field trips, social events, structured exercises, and/or role-plays are frequently utilized (e.g., a lunch club for formerly institutionalized persons, a social skills group for children who have difficulty making friends, and a current events group for residents in an assisted living facility).

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Self-Help Groups

We don’t spend much time talking about self-help groups, as these are not things we end up facilitating. They can be invaluable, and as social workers, we might be trying to get these started or refer our clients to them. Examples include:

• 12 Step Groups
• Support Groups
• Online Self-Help Groups

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Task Groups (Micro, Mezzo, Macro)

The other type of group we will discuss during the rest of this class task groups. These are where members focus primarily on a specific objective or task.

Task groups could be characterized in three ways based on who it is intending to meet the needs of:

• Needs of the client (Groups that Are Created to Meet Client Needs)
• Needs of the organization (Groups that Are Intended to Meet Organizational Needs)
• Needs of the community (Groups that Address Community Needs)

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Task Groups Continued

These groups often take some of these general forms.

• Board of Directors: An administrative group responsible for setting the policy governing agency programs.
  • The board is a legal entity established by the bylaws, organizational charter, or articles of incorporation.
• Task Forces: A group established for a special purpose and usually disbands after their task completion.
• Committees and commissions: Committees are groups responsible for specific tasks or matters.
  • Members can be appointed or elected depending on the type of committee.
  • Two types of committees
    1. A standing committee that exists continuously
    2. An ad hoc committee is like a task force that is set up for one purpose and expected to cease operation after completion of the task.
• Legislative Bodies: include city councils, county boards of supervisors, state legislatures, and U.S Congress.
• Staff Meetings: Agency staff members assemble periodically for some identified purpose.
• Multidisciplinary Teams: Professionals from various disciplines meet to discuss specific clients with whom team members work.
• Case Conferences Staffing: Agency or organizational meetings in which all professionals in a particular case discuss the client’s identified problems, goals, and intervention plans.
• Social Action: Individuals that take social action to solve social and economic problems.

(Hepworth et al., 2023)

Simple Group Example

When a group has a general, expected format (whether you are looking at a treatment group or a task group), it helps all members understand what to expect and makes it easier to create norms.

At the Crisis Residential Center in Spokane, I frequently led groups for the youth staying there. I had a general format that I would always follow:

• Review the rules
• Check-in question
• Fun, engaging activity
• Work on a specific topic or skill

[Activity] Have all students move desks into a circle. Go through the first three steps of the group. We will go through a part of a group exercise to see what it can look like. We will role-play as if this is a therapeutic group working on communication skills.

Determine Group Rules

If any of you have every part, sometimes it can be difficult… one way we can make it a little bit easier is to set up some ground rules while we are in the group. Do you have any suggestions about possible rules for our group sessions?

• Elicit ideas
• Write on the board
• Review them
• Thank the group

Check-in Question

If you could describe your day today as an animal, any animal… what would it be today and why?

• Ask check-in questions (highs and lows today)
• Follow up on some of the group members and why they picked what they picked

Activity

Today, we are going to do a pretty fun activity. It is like telephone, but… completely different…

Picture is worth a 1,000 words

• Description: Variation of telephone. Each group member is given a piece of paper. They are instructed to write a short phrase on their paper. The paper is passed to the next person. That person is instructed to draw a picture of the phrase. Before they pass their picture to the next person, they fold and cover the written statement directly above. This process is repeated until the papers get back to the original writer.
• Purpose: The phrase to drawing changes what the writer intended. This often happens when we communicate.

Skill

Today, we are going to be talking about communication. What did we see when we did the activity? How could that relate to how we communicate?

Debrief

What did you see and not see?

• What did you see in my facilitation of the group
• What worked, what didn’t
• Is this something you could imagine doing in a group?

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (1 of 6)

Table used for this

Topics Covered

• Reason for group formation
• Facilitator
• Group member roles
• Communication patterns
• Procedures
• Group member composition
• Self-disclosure
• Confidentiality
• Evaluation of Success

(Toseland & Rivas, 2017, as cited in Hepworth et al., 2023)

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (2 of 6)

There are a number of characteristics that we can compare and contrast between treatment, self-help, and task groups. First we can look at what the reason they have for being formed and their facilitator

Treatment Group

• Reason for group formation: Members’ personal needs
• Facilitator: Mental health professional leads the group

Self-Help Group

• Reason for group formation: Members’ personal needs
• Facilitator: Member led; there maybe be no appointed facilitator; a trained peer or group member may facilitate

Task Group

• Reason for group formation:Task to be completed
• Facilitator: Led by agency employee

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (3 of 6)

Second we can review the member roles and communication patterns

Treatment Group

• Group member roles: Develop organically through interaction
• Communication patterns: Open, conversational interaction based on members’ needs

Self-Help Group

• Group member roles: Develop organically through interaction
• Communication patterns: Open, conversational interaction based on members’ needs

Task Group

• Group member roles: May be assigned, appointed, or develop organically through interaction
• Communication patterns: Focused on the specific task to be accomplished.

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (4 of 6)

Third we can consider their procedures and composition

Treatment Group

• Procedures: Flexible or formal, depending on the group
• Group member composition: Based on members common concerns or presenting problems

Self-Help Group

• Procedures: Flexible or formal, depending on the group
• Group member composition: Based on members common concerns or presenting problems

Task Group

• Procedures: Set agenda. May be structured by by-laws or Roberts’ Rules of Order
• Group member composition: Based on positions, needed talents, knowledge, or expertise

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (5 of 6)

Fourth we can review the amount of self-disclosure and expectations around confidentiality.

Treatment Group

• Self-disclosure: Expected to be high
• Confidentiality: Group content is generally private and kept within the group

Self-Help Group

• Self-disclosure: Expected to be high
• Confidentiality: Group content is generally private and kept within the group

Task Group

• Self-disclosure: Expected to be low
• Confidentiality: Group proceedings may be private but can be open to the public

Characteristics of Treatment, Self-Help, and Task Groups (6 of 6)

Finally we can look at how success if evaluated

Treatment Group

• Evaluation of success: Based on members’ meeting treatment goals

Self-Help Group

• Evaluation of success: Determined by group members; survival of the group indicates success as member attendance is what keeps the group

Task Group

• Evaluation of success: Based on accomplishment of task or mandate, or producing a product

Professional Roles in Groups

Social workers take on several roles while facilitating groups.

• Brokers: Help group members obtain needed resources by connecting them with community agencies. This process requires that the worker be familiar with community resources, have general knowledge about eligibility requirements, and be sensitive to the client’s needs.
• Mediators: Help group members resolve conflicts. In this role, the worker must believe that different sides to a disagreement are legitimate and help each side recognize that the other side’s views are valid. It helps parties identify their points of disagreement and mutual interest.
• Educator: Provides group participation with new information, structures the presentation of the information, and uses modeling to help members learn new skills.
• Facilitator: This role guides, eases, or expedites the way for others. It is essential whether working with individuals or groups.
• Multiple Roles: Social workers will have to play various roles depending on the group’s needs and the problems confronted.

Conceptual Frameworks: Group Functions and Roles

During every group, two functions have to be fulfilled consistently. These are task functions and maintenance functions. As a group leader, you will have to go back and forth between the two throughout the group process to have the group be successful.

• Task functions
  • Help to keep a group on task and work toward agreed-upon ends.
  • People playing task roles are interested in the group completing their agreed-upon tasks and trying to help the process.
  • A group needs task function to work towards goal completion.
• Maintenance functions
  • Ensure that the needs of group members receive attention.
  • Group maintenance roles are concerned with improving, enhancing, or increasing group functioning.
  • Maintenance to encourage members to continue to attend.
• Potentially positive roles As with anything in social work, a wide range of roles might be necessary for any group.
  • Every role is not necessary every time, and even roles that can be positive can sometimes not be what is needed at a specific time.
  • Some potentially positive roles are as follows:
  • information seeker, opinion seeker, elaborator, instructor, evaluator, energizer, recorder, procedural technician, harmonizer, compromiser, encourager, follower, tension reliever, and listener.

Negative and Nonfunctional Roles

Group members also frequently take on roles…

Some roles can be damaging, such as aggressor, blocker, recognition seeker, dominator, help seeker, and confessor. Some roles played by members meet only their own needs and do not help further the group’s progress.

• Aggressive members, recognition seekers, dominators, confessors, scapegoats, defensive members, deviant members, quiet members, and internal leaders.

• Groups need guidance and help from the leader to recognize and confront nonfunctional roles.

Group Behaviors (1 of 2)

The textbook broke down the topics of constructive vs. problematic group behavior. I want to provide some context of what makes for constructive group behavior.

Constructive Group Behavior

• Members openly communicate personal feelings and attitudes and anticipate that other members will be helpful.
• Members listen carefully to one another and give all ideas a fair hearing.
• Decisions are reached through group consensus after considering everyone’s views and feelings.
• Members try to incorporate the views of dissenters or less powerful members rather than dominate or override these views.

Problematic Group Behavior

• Members continue to keep discussions on a superficial level or avoid revealing their feelings and opinions.
• Members are critical and evaluative of each other. They rarely acknowledge or listen to contributions from others.
• Dominant members dismiss or bully other members in decision-making
• Members make decisions prematurely without identifying or weighing possible alternatives.

Group Behaviors (2 of 2)

Constructive Group Behavior

• Members recognize and give feedback regarding others’ strengths and growth.
• Members use “I” messages to speak for themselves, owning their feelings and positions.
• The guidelines established in initial sessions become norms.
• Members share responsibility for the group’s functioning and success.
• The group works out problems that impair group functioning.
• Members are attuned to the needs and feelings of others and give emotional support.

Problematic Group Behavior

• Members are critical of others’ differences.
• Members do not personalize their messages but use indirect forms of communication to express their feelings and positions.
• Members act in distracting or disruptive ways.
• Members avoid discussing the here and now or addressing personal or group problems.
• Members show little awareness of the needs and feelings of others; emotional investment in others is limited.

Assessing Individuals’ Patterned Behaviors

When looking at patterns of behavior, two areas that we frequently evaluate are those of content and process.

• Content refers to verbal statements and related topics that members discuss
• Process involves how members relate or behave as they interact and discuss content.
• Seeing these processes happen, we can start seeing Thematic Behaviors.
  • Patterned cognitions and behavior are inextricably related and reciprocally reinforce each other

Group Dynamics and Composition

All groups have an identifiable culture comprising the traditions, customs, values, and beliefs shared by group members.

• Norms are unwritten expectations about how individuals act in certain situations.
• Value differences among group members may contribute to difficulties within the group.
• When a climate of trust exists, members are more likely to accept individual differences and allow fellow members to express their individuality.
• Power issues always exist within groups (i.e. facilitator and member).

The size and composition of a group change its dynamics and are frequently determined by the worker.

• Group size does have an impact on what occurs in the group.
• Age may also play a factor, such as different levels of development.
• Gender is also an important consideration.
• Homogeneity
  • Selecting individuals with similar problems but different personalities, you would want a mix of talkers and listeners.
  • Having diverse group members can bring unique qualities and multiple perspectives on problem-solving processes to the group
• Determining the duration of a group requires that the worker decide how many sessions will be held and how long it will last.

Critical Thinking and Groups

As heterogeneity (i.e., diversity) increases, so does critical thinking.

• Groups can be effective decision-makers, but they can fail to use critical thinking in their deliberations, sometimes with disastrous results.

• Group think describes situations where groups have the illusion of agreement but have failed to consider their decisions carefully. This usually happens when decisions are made too quickly, or people do not want to upset the camaraderie by expressing opposing opinions.
• A critical thinking group will weigh alternatives carefully, consider both the advantages and disadvantages of each option, and value the insights of all group members.

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