IASWG Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups: Development, Application, and Evolution

Abstract

This article focuses on the International Association for Social Work with Groups' Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups. It begins with an overview of the Standards and their significance. It reports on three integrated studies conducted by the authors. First is a review of the literature that examines how human service organizations approach the construction of standards. Second is a 2009 study of how the Standards are known, used, and assessed by respondents to an online survey. The findings of this survey inspired the third study, conducted in 2010 utilizing a focus group approach to explore how the Standards could be more applicable in a global context. The article concludes with implications and recommendations for future evolution and dissemination of the Standards.

Keywords:

• IASWG standards
• AASWG
• social work with groups
• focus group research
• group work
• literature review

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This article builds on preliminary work presented at the International Symposium of the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, Montreal Canada, June 2010, available at http://www.iaswg.org/docs/June%202010%20Full%20Revised%20ReportStandards.pdf