The MELD Program: Promoting Personal Change and Social Justice Through a Year-Long Multicultural Group Experience

ABSTRACT

There is a prevailing misconception among many people, including social work students, that social work groups are focused primarily on individual change and growth. Many social workers, however, promote multicultural communication and collaboration within and among groups, and many also strive to link personal change with the advancement of community and social change. This paper discusses the relationship between social work with groups and social action; describes the Multicultural Experience in Leadership Development (MELD) program, which effectively combines the two; presents and discusses facilitator interventions and tasks at each stage of group development; and considers the implications and utility of the MELD model for social workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Multicultural groups
• social action
• leadership training
• diversity curriculum
• group stages
• facilitator interventions