Linear Paths and Circuitous Detours in Group Work with Adolescents

Abstract

This article illustrates the importance of group workers advancing reflection, in-the-moment and post hoc, in adolescent groups by blending linear paths and circuitous detours. This is illustrated through a single transcript, constructed in a poetic form, of (1) a middle adolescent boys’ group discussing the origin of AIDS and their related fears and (2) a vignette of the group members learning from a fellow group member about the process of getting tested for sexually transmitted disease.