Group Work Education: A Call for Renewed Commitment

Abstract

Studies demonstrate steady decline in group work courses and concentration in graduate social work programs. This is attributed to the Council on Social Work Education’s recommendation, in 1969, for a generalist practice model; the growing interest of professional social workers in developing casework skills, including psychiatric casework; and the influence of perspectives from nonsocial work disciplines. This article proposes renewed efforts to strengthen social group work education and concerted collaboration between classroom and field. It focuses on essential course content, emphasizes social group work perspectives, and identifies core social group work concepts and tools for inclusion in curriculum and field education.

KEYWORDS:

• group work education
• group work tools
• classroom/agency collaboration
• mutual aid
• “think group”

Notes

1. IASWG was formerly Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG).