Group WorkEdition 1

Explore the latest research and practice information in group work!Group Work: Strategies for Strengthening Resiliency is a collection of research and information presented at the Twentieth Annual International Symposium on Social Work with Groups. Resiliency issues are explored in relation to children, couples, managers, survivors of torture, poor women, HIV/AIDS affected youth, and other population groups. The contributors were keynote speakers and paper presenters at the symposium. They represent a wide range of fields of practice and experience.For social workers, students, educators, and practitioners, this volume examines how group work can improve resiliency in your community. Here's a sample of what you'll find inside:

• Keynote Speaker Jeremy Woodcock's experiences in his groundbreaking resiliency work with victims of torture
• Alex Gitterman's brilliant exposition of the notions of resiliency and vulnerability--he outlines the current thinking and puts it into a group work context
• case examples that illustrate resiliency in children
• a discussion of how residential settings can function like a 24-hour group and how to use that group effectively to strengthen the resiliency of the residents
• a way to use groups to help develop social and economic capital for poor women through investment clubs
• group themes and practice strategies for group work with couples who have differing HIV statusGroup Work: Strategies for Strengthening Resiliency also contains chapters reflecting the personal experiences of the authors. One shares her transformation from a worker who did case work in a group into a social group worker. Another shares a reminiscence of a personal journey during her formative years as a budding group worker.

From its description of how the use of group work principles and skills can benefit managers and programs to its challenge to group workers to incorporate some community work skills into their repertoire, Group Work: Strategies for Strengthening Resiliency is more than a fascinating read--it is a tool to help you keep abreast of the latest theory and practice in this ever-changing field.