CHAPTER 3 - The Social Worker's Role in the Group Work Process

Abstract

This chapter describes the social worker's role in the group work process. The group process begins with a particular kind of group composition. The social worker has important contributions to make during the early stage. The skill and judgment with which he performs these initial functions may be quite decisive for the relevance of the subsequent group development. In the first place, the worker becomes aware or is made aware of a situation that subjects a number of people to some kind of inner stress or environmental pressure, or—perhaps most commonly—both. His observation of this situation provides the grounds for his taking the initiative to form a group. It is possible to give a differentiated introduction to the social worker's role in group work by indicating functions that relate to different needs at different stages of the group process.