Table Of ContentDeconstructing Group Work for Human
Service Professionals
Spotlighting the skills of social group work, this handbook offers practical guidance
and theoretical knowledge, enabling the reader to facilitate groups of varying types
with increased clarity, purpose, and confidence. The reader is helped to understand
what skill to employ, when, and why. New or veteran group facilitators are reminded
to empower group members to both employ their strengths and engage in mutual
aid – the fundamental value and methodology that underlies social group work.
Specific skills help group members to coalesce as a cohesive group and optimize their
capacity to reach their goals whether exploring therapeutic answers or accomplish-
ing work tasks.
This book illustrates that there are “basics” to the method of human service work
with groups that can help you to feel more at ease with and more effective at work-
ing with people in groups. The group work method is delineated for you, outlining:
(1) skills of working with groups (ways of thinking or doing to make things happen),
(2) practice principles (the moral reasoning that underlies what you choose to think
and do in your practice), and (3) theoretical underpinnings for those choices (why
your choices will achieve desirable ends). Anecdotal material and skills in action
provide explicit examples of what skills look like in real time.
Social work students and academics as well as students and professionals working
in the fields of youth work, counseling, mental health/clinical social work, and related
health subjects will find this book of interest.
Dominique Moyse Steinberg, with a clinical background in child welfare and family
service, has over 40 years of experience as educator, trainer, scholar, and researcher
in social work with groups. She has practiced primarily in New York City and taught
group work, research, and writing for publication at Hunter College, Smith College,
and Simmons University School of Social Work. A certified professional mediator
since 2000, Steinberg has also offered international workshops on addressing group
conflict and catalyzing mutual aid. She has several research grants to her credit and
is the author of many books and articles on group work process and values, research
methods, and elder care.
Eileen C. Lyons, a social group worker by training, has dedicated her career to the
youth development field, working in education, foster care, social work, and out-
of-school time programs. Lyons’ career includes 17 years as Executive Director of
Interfaith Neighbors in NYC where she pioneered programs in literacy and bereave-
ment. Lyons co-founded the journal Afterschool Matters, now published by the
National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Wellesley Centers for Women. Since
2014, Lyons has held the position of Executive Director of Fresh Youth Initiatives, a
community-based organization in Washington Heights that provides comprehensive
social services and youth development programs to immigrant and first-generation
children and their families.
Deconstructing Group Work for
Human Service Professionals
A Skill-Building Handbook
Dominique Moyse Steinberg
and Eileen C. Lyons
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Dominique Moyse Steinberg and Eileen C. Lyons
The right of Dominique Moyse Steinberg and Eileen C. Lyons to be
identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Steinberg, Dominique Moyse, editor. | Lyons, Eileen C., editor.
Title: Deconstructing group work for human service professionals :
a skill-building handbook / edited by Dominique Moyse Steinberg
and Eileen C. Lyons.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022020441 (print) | LCCN 2022020442 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367433802 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367431280 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003002789 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Social group work. | Human services personnel.
Classification: LCC HV45 .D39 2023 (print) | LCC HV45 (ebook) |
DDC 361.4--dc23/eng/20220518
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022020441
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022020442
ISBN: 978-0-367-43380-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-43128-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00278-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003002789
Typeset in Sabon
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
Foreword ix
PART 1
Introduction, Purpose, Context 1
Introduction 1
Why This Book 3
PART 2
The Basics of Group Work Method and Skill 7
Definitions of Key Terms 7
Groups 7
Group Purpose 8
Group Work 8
Practitioner 9
Group Worker 9
The Worker as Educator 9
Practice 10
Skills 10
Group-Specific Skills 10
Principles 12
Theory 12
Mutual Aid 13
Underlying Values 13
Commitment 13
Consensus/Democracy 14
Difference as Enriching 14
Empowerment 14
Humanism 15
Holistic Thinking 15
Knowledge 15
Self-Determination 15
Transparency 15
vi Contents
Underlying Assumptions 16
Modifying Practice 16
Professional Development 16
Professional Values 16
How This Book Is Organized 17
A Word About Professional Literature 17
PART 3
The Skills of Group Work Deconstructed 19
Introduction 19
1 Skill Set: Need 21
Overview 21
Major Concepts 22
Skills 22
Assess Your Work Setting 23
Assess Client Perspective 25
Assess Goodness of Fit 27
Pay Ongoing Attention to Need 29
Help People Decide on Membership 31
2 Skill Set: Purpose 33
Overview 33
Major Concepts 34
Skills 34
Conceptualize a Potential Group Purpose 35
Try It* on for Size (*Your Idea About a Group Purpose) 37
Land on a Particular Group Purpose 38
Operationalize Group Purpose 40
Consider Size of Membership in Relation to Group Purpose 41
Pay Ongoing Attention to Group Purpose 43
Constantly Think Purpose 44
3 Skill Set: Worker Role 46
Overview 46
Major Concepts 47
Skills 47
Become Informed 48
Apply New Knowledge 50
Tune In 51
Educate the Group 53
Maintain Dual Focus 55
Sit on Your Mouth (Roman 2002) 57
Contents vii
4 Skill Set: Group Process 58
Overview 58
Major Concepts 58
Skills 59
Start the Meeting 60
Secure Consensus on the Work 61
Confirm Consensual Agreement 63
Invite Shared Ownership 65
Attend to Group Stage 66
Reach for Ambivalence 68
Consider the Possibility of Latent Content 69
Help the Group to Problem-Solve 71
Synthesize Information Received 74
Evaluate the Process 77
5 Skill Set: Mutual Aid 80
Overview 80
Major Concepts 81
Skills 81
Mutual Aid Dynamics: An Overview 81
Explain Mutual Aid 84
Identify Group Strengths 85
Harness Group Strengths 86
Invite Group Members to Help One Another 88
Evaluate the Helping Process 89
6 Skill Set: Conflict 91
Overview 91
Major Concepts 93
Skills 93
Help the Group to Expect Differences 94
Help the Group to Accept Expressions of Difference 95
Help the Group to See Difference as Perspective 96
Help the Group to Talk About Differences 98
Help the Group to Make Meaning of Its Differences 99
Address Conflict Directly 100
Endnote 102
Appendices 103
Appendix A: On Identifying a Tentative Group Purpose 105
viii Contents
Appendix B: On Hidden Agendas 108
Appendix C: On Self-Disclosure 110
Appendix D: On Problem Solving with Mutual Aid in Mind:
Casework in a Group vs Group Work 112
References 114
Index 118
Foreword
Welcome to this book on skills for working with groups; we are thrilled that you
decided to pick it up! We have made some assumptions about people in the human
services field who might benefit from a book on group work skills and what knowl-
edge, expertise, and insights you are hoping to acquire. As group workers ourselves
we experienced and listened to others as they experienced the highs and lows of the
group work learning curve.
For us, group work is bred in the bone, a values-driven practice and a worldview.
We hope that by introducing you to the social group work methodology and skills
that guide our work, we can excite you about this particular brand of practice with
groups. Group work becomes more satisfying, exciting, and effective when the worker
employs skills with the precision of purpose, principle, and theory. We cannot offer
you a road map, but we can provide the support that prepares you for the group work
journey. For those of you who already facilitate groups with skill and confidence, this
book can assist you to make explicit what may be implicit in your practice and better
explain the integrity and importance of the work you do.
Perhaps what we both wish the most is that you enjoy reading this book about
social work with groups as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Happy reading!
Dominique Moyse Steinberg and Eileen C. Lyons
