Whiting & Birch (E-Journals)
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Setting the Table: Trauma-Informed Groupwork in Challenging Times
No full textPolitical developments across the globe have created circumstances in which many feel increasingly threatened by forces of political oppression. These forces have been especially pronounced for communities of color and immigrant communities in the United States in the last several years, creating a context that is ripe for the restorative and transformative potential of groupwork. In this paper, we describe our experiences as social work faculty in a university community Southwestern United States as we sought to implement a year-long groupwork initiative following the 2016 elections. Utilizing an open and self-directed approach, these inclusive dialogues were intended to provide opportunities for mutual understanding and collective action. Participant feedback suggested that they were largely positive experiences; however, attendance and deep engagement were continual challenges. In reflecting on these experiences we conclude that deeper attention to the concept of political trauma and a more explicitly trauma-informed approach to group planning, formation, and engagement could have supported our efforts. In response, we propose a framework which integrates the Sanctuary model of trauma-informed care with a pedagogy of political trauma as a means of conceptualizing trauma-informed groupwork in response to political oppression.
Profiling of Student-Athletes using Protective Behavioral Strategies and Alcohol Use Based on Cluster Analysis Assignment
Get PDFAn estimated 2 in 3 college students report consuming alcohol in the past month and 44% of students report engaging in high risk or heavy episodic drinking at least once in the previous 2 weeks. Despite evidence suggesting that participation in sports may be a protective factor for the use of alcohol, recent data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), finds that 77% college student-athletes report use. Though overall prevalence rates of alcohol consumption are similar among college student-athletes and non-athletes, student-athletes are more likely to engage in binge or high-risk drinking as compared to their non-athlete peers. An overwhelming majority of studies found that protective behavioral strategy (PBS) use was associated with less drinking and alcohol-related problems. There are sport-related factors that have been assessed to determine their association with use of alcohol-related PBS. With known factors in mind, prevention programs are typically developed to effect distal outcomes by way of these, more proximal, intermediate constructs that are thought to be related to the health problem of interest. The purpose of the current study was to examine the structural features that influence whether a given student-athlete will be categorized into one of three groups; a) high-risk drinking behaviors, b) moderate risk drinking behaviors, or c) low risk drinking behaviors
Repair the World: Group Work in the Deggendorf Displaced Persons Center, 1945-1946
Get PDF This paper explores the formation of a transitory community in the UNRRA Displaced Persons Center in Deggendorf, Germany, where Jewish Holocaust survivors used social group work to preserve their past, to restore humane values, and to prepare for new lives. Social activism through task groups and activity groups affirmed individual and community self-determination while promoting recovery from trauma. The experience of the She’erith Hapleitah or “surviving remnant,” as they called themselves, though historically specific, has implications for group work with migrants today.
Group Work Practice Principles for Substance Use Disorder Treatment
No full textIn this group work in practice essay, the authors review the theories, perspectives, and themes of group work practice specific to the SUD treatment field. Through a discussion of abstinence-based and harm reduction approaches to SUD treatment, a review of the types of groups used in SUD treatment and related group facilitation skills, and practice examples, the authors present important principles in the teaching and practice of group work in the SUD treatment field. While the authors’ experience is grounded in a U.S.-based context, we believe the principles presented are useful to a larger, international audience
Strengthening Students’ Employability Skills: The Development and First Evaluation of Multiple Approaches to Group Work
No full textGraduates are not always ready for the workplace, and higher education lecturers are expected to develop students’ employability skills. Group work is perceived to be an effective way to develop these skills. It is not clear, however, what types of group work are most effective for strengthening the business management student’s readiness for the workplace. Three approaches to group work were developed and implemented, namely, 1. A self-allocated group that worked together outside the classroom; 2. A random lecturer-allocated group that only undertook in-class activities; and 3. A pair that worked on a long-term community-service project. The article provides detail on the theoretical underpinnings, the application of the theory and a small-scale exploration of the perceived impact of the integrated approach. In an improvement-oriented evaluation study, business management graduates completed an open-ended questionnaire six months after starting employment. The findings suggest that integrating the three approaches in one module has the potential to improve different aspects of students’ employability skills. The insights gained from the implementation of the approach and the study could serve to guide lecturers in similar environments on how to design/plan group work in order to improve different employability skills
The Cycle of Internalized Learning (CIL) program for the education and empowerment of students: Students with visual impairments as a case study
Get PDFThe paper describes the participation of students with visual impairments (VI) and blindness in the ‘Cycle of Internalized Learning ‘ (CIL) program, and reports on the follow along study that accompanied the program. The CIL is a teaching program based on a constructivist approach that focus on learning based on authentic and relevant issues conducted in-group interactions. The research question w as- will participants’ reports following CIL specially design program indicate a process of empowerment? The study used qualitative methodology highlighting participants’ own voices. The research tool was the students’ personal logbooks. Nine students with VI and blindness, aged 24-35, studying in universities and colleges in Israel participated voluntarily in 14 meetings of 4 hours each during the semester. Analysis of students’ logbooks revealed that the program influenced both social and personal dimensions in students’ life, enhancing their social coping competences. The findings of this study demonstrate the potential benefit of this program for more learners, with or without disabilitie
A Group Treatment for Displaced Survivors of Persecution: A Reflective Account Through a Psychosocial Lens
No full textMillions of displaced survivors of persecution are navigating the impacts of both human rights violations and being forced to flee their homes, communities and nations. Their broad, pervasive, and complex psychosocial needs can develop into chronic and severe issues if they are not addressed. There is limited literature on clinical interventions and approaches that have a primary goal of promoting psychosocial health of displaced survivors of targeted persecution. The Orientation Group, developed by the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture in New York City, is one brief psychoeducational and skills-based group intervention aiming to support the psychosocial wellbeing of displaced survivors of torture, political oppression and other forms of persecution. Although not yet empirically studied, this group intervention has more than a decade of anecdotal support. This paper provides a reflective account of the Orientation Group and offers recommendations for enhancing the intervention
How Pre-deliberation Processes Predict Group Discussion: An Application of the Goals-Plans-Action Model
No full textThe goal of the study was to investigate the role of pre-deliberation planning on the enactment of normative and informational influence attempts during group decision-making. The goals-plans-action model (Dillard, 1990) was used to frame the study. The participants (N=112) performed a judgmental group decision-making task. The results of the study support the GPA in several ways. Pre-deliberation plans were enacted in discussion. In support of the extant group literature, perceptions of the task type influenced the proportion of pre-deliberation informational plans. Post-discussion attitudes toward the group’s decision were related to goals and to the proportion of normative plans
Dialogic sharing of lived experience in different self-help/mutual aid groups
Get PDFThis article is based on a recent re-visiting of published data related to the ‘sharing’ processes between members of two strikingly different types of self-help/mutual aid groups (SHMAGs) run by and for peers who share the same situation. Data from taped meetings and observations with a stress-coping Carers’ groups is compared with observational data from an identity changing Alcoholics Anonymous group and discussed in relation to Bohm’s (1987, 1996/2013) concept of dialogue as an alternative communication process that facilitates inquiry and the accumulation of knowledge. Groups were at extreme opposites in terms of their expected goals, strategies of help, and organisational characteristics yet unexpected similarities were found in relation to the authority of sharing lived experience which was in both cases respectful, supportive and non-judgemental. Group members did not openly disagree with each other but expressed a difference in opinion by the juxtaposing of a personal story which suggested an alternative way of doing or viewing things. The paper contributes to our knowledge of how sharing lived experience can be a key similarity between strikingly different SHMAGs. The paper also contributes to our understanding of the usefulness of dialogue as an explanatory framework for viewing SHMAGs as collective learning enterprises.Keywords (up to 6): self-help/mutual aid groups, lived experience, dialogue, collective learning, sharing storie