Voices From the Field

Voices From the Field is the book to challenge you from your cozy position of complacency! By simply opening its pages, you will learn about fascinating developments in group work sequences in group care, empowerment groups in action, and a whole spectrum of practice and education-oriented themes you may have never considered before. A compilation of work from the XVI Annual Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, this book reflects on social work’s rich tradition of diversity and offers you insight that will expand your horizons and encourage you to incorporate different techniques into your repertory. You will learn about contemporary practice, the profession’s historic mission and commitment, and the evolution of group work practice and techniques with different populations. This practical collection allows you to examine a broad spectrum of professional practice and educational themes. Chapters in Voices From the Field explore theory building, qualitative research, mutual aid, time-limited groups, adventure groups, psychodrama, groups for addicted persons and their families, group work with adolescents, and skill development. At the same time you refresh your grounding in the basic principles of social work, you will learn about:

• a group work forum on-line
• the importance of empowering individuals through group experiences
• group treatment for alcoholism
• group work with juvenile sex offenders
• international, contemporary practices of social group work
• establishing group norms in conflictual situationsClinicians, neighborhood and community activists, students, professors, researchers, therapists, old timers, and newcomers will find Voices From the Field an extraordinary compilation of the basic principles and concepts underlying group work, contemporary practice and applications for group social work, and ways for enhancing practice knowledge and skills. Whether you are reading it as a reference text in a methods course or reading it independently, you will find this book reminds you of certain fundamentals long-forgotten, yet also inspires you to take on new challenges and different techniques for meeting the challenges of group social work.