INSIGHT ABOUT GROUP WORK

In a group, it composed of two or more people. In each group has their common goal. Group work is an essential part of life, integral component of social work practice. Group work provides a variable of benefits that individual work cannot provide, such as the synergy among members that group work provides over case, and it is precisely why group work is applied in the social work setting. Group work is a method of social work which helps individuals to enhance their social functioning through purposeful group experiences whether on a one to one basis or by the whole group experiences.

The emphasis is somewhat a traditional one of helping the individual with a problem. In forming a group it should consider some factors like age, people’s background, likeness and goals. In that factor you may consider also the relationship in each of the member since they do not know them very well. Though we have different kinds of group work but precisely they have their goal in every group work, if such group is a therapeutic group their goal is to heal; if the other group is task group then their objectives is to achieve such specific task. In a group it should have a leader that governed his/her member and to facilitate their work and to manage each of the member.

A leader must also have a capacity to develop and maintain an atmosphere within the group. In every group there such objectives to be follow by determining to be an effective member in a group, discipline is one of the group concern in every member. A size of a group or a number of members of a group can affect also in the satisfaction and interaction in each member, because forming a group is not like a game that “the more the merrier”, we should consider each of them and their goal in life that suppose to be they achieve. The stages of groups have five steps: intake, selection of members, assessment and planning, group development and intervention, evaluation and termination. Intake, in this stage were the agreement of group started and telling the goal of the group is required to emphasize more so that the people with different goal may back out and the prospective member are identified. Selections of members, in this stage were the selecting of a member is base on some factors like age, sex, and level of education.

The behavior also modified in such group work, like placing more hyperactive or aggressive. Assessment and planning, in this stage the plans and actions occur, and goals should have a limited time of attainment. Clarification of goals also eliminates hidden agendas. Group development and intervention, in this stage many models of group development will evolve. And lastly, evaluation and termination, this will end the group work with such evaluation of each member. In a group work, as a practitioner soon, I should have my patience in making such activity to the group because in a first place, we’re dealing with the people that you don’t even know, and usually have their problems in life. So, I think must preferable to work in a group than in an individual work.