Group Dynamics Ch. 7,8,9,10

Exam Prep for Group Dynamics Chapters 7,8,9,10

Managing Polarity

Must learn to reframe the belief by some school officials and personnel that there is only room for either social-emotional learning or academic learning.

School Connectedness

Teens who feel connected are less likely to engage in high-risk or internalizing behaviours such as self-harming, violence, early sexual activity disordered eating, or suicidal behaviour.

Social-Emotional Learning

The process we learn to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviours

Why is School Connectedness Critical?

To ensure students’ success in school

Behavioural Intervention Plan (BIP)

A written, specific, purposeful, and organized plan that describes positive behavioural interventions and other strategies that will be implemented to address goals for a student’s social, emotional and behavioural development. It addresses behaviour(s) of concern that led to conducting an FBA.

Functional Behavioural Assessment

Process of determining why a student behaves in a way that prevents other students from being able to learn. It includes:

• Identifying the problem behaviour

• Defining the behaviour in concrete terms

• Identifying the contextual factors that contribute to the behaviour, formulating a hypothesis regarding the general conditions the behaviour usually occurs, and identifying problematic consequences that maintain the behaviour

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

A written statement developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with education law that includes specific components to meet the unique educational needs of a student with disabilities. If a student is eligible for these services, the CSE must consider:

• The result of the initial or most recent evaluation

• The students strengths

• The concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child

• As appropriate, the results of the student’s performance on any general state or district wide assessment programs

Least Restrictive Environment

The placement of students with disabilities in special classes or separate schools occurs only in cases where supplementary aids and services can no longer be satisfactorily achieved.
By placing a student with disability in the least restrictive environment, this helps other students reach their maximum extent

What might some of the content in groups for children and adolescents of divorce include?

• Family Situation

• Legal Terms

• Information about Divorce

• Identification and Evaluation of Worries and Beliefs (Magical Thinking and Irrational Beliefs about the Divorce)

• Solutions to problems generated by problem-solving around difficult parental dating

• Development of skills to deal with difficult situations

Death of a Friend (list 3)

• Previous exposure to trauma

• Earlier depression or anxiety affects brain chemistry

• Ineffective coping skills

• Family instability

• Early substance abuse

• History of delinquency/juvy

• Absence of Social Support

• Duration of Trauma

• Multiple early losses

• Geography nearness to the event

• Level of exposure to the event

• Age at time of event (young)

• Victim of multiple traumatic events

Guidelines for Groups-on-the-Go (6 of them)

• Pay attention to Process, Structure and Boundaries

• Emphasize Group members’ strengths and what they have to offer

• Form alliances with relevant other people in school

• Don’t disregard or underestimate the need for trust, privacy, and confidentiality

• Make a demand for work

• Welcome the whole person to participate

Group Workers must pay attention to (4):

• Number of Students

• Administrative Details (obtaining passes for permission to leave class, process of gatekeepers of the school, pay attention to admin details)

• Unplanned intervention is spontaneous

• Prepare to “defend” their action in a non-defensive way (role of educator and advocate)

Pro and Con to Groups on the Go

Pro: adds the peer group to the helping mix, tapping what students have to offer one-another in moments of distress

Con: wariness of school administrators and faculty fearing that forming such groups will uspet the routine and structure of the school day

2 Major tasks of Life Space Interviewing

• Clinical exploration of life events

• Emotional First Aid on the spot

• Mutual Aid in the moment

What does School Stress and Self-Harming behaviour look like?

• Cut into their skin

• Scratch

• Burning themselves

• Stick themselves with needles

• Pinch themselves to the point of bleeding

• Insert unsterilized objects under their skin

Who’s at Risk of Self-Harming behaviour?

Youth are most at risk as they see cutting as a friend that soothes, is always reliable and is always available. Cutting does not always mean suicidal

Groups-on-the-Go

• An extension of Redl’s life space interviewing which aims to address problems in adolescents direct here-and-now life experience

• Group workers must be problem focused, clear about goals, and active in pursuing their aims

• Must also be prepared for emergent problems that occur in groups, expect the unexpected, be ready for group work on the go

How does a Youth Worker Unify with School Personnel?

By communicating with school personnel reminding them what youth go experience in a day and what would happen if we do versus if we didn’t do a social and emotional learning.

Warm up to School Personnel for Supporting Students’ Social and Emotional Learning; need to remind them of:

• What some youth experience on a day-to-day basis

• What the impact will be if social-emotional learning is factored out of the school-day equation

Group Work

Individual need skill development

Crowd Control

Everyone learns the same thing

Range of Reactions about School Staff

The noise, movement, and energy produced in a typical non-classroom children’s group may lead to puzzled looks, requests to “quiet down” and questions about the value of any groups that are not perceived as “serious” aimed at academic achievement.

Building allies can be an uphill battle

Pragmatic Model for Problem Solving in the Group (5 stages)

1. Sensing that a problem exists in the group

2. Identifying the problem

3. Exploring the problem in depth

4. Identifying possible solutions and obstacles

5. Choosing a solution, trying it, and evaluating it

Sensing that a Problem Exists in the Group (Stage 1)

Something is going on that requires some attention.

Identifying the Problem (Stage 2)

The group members must have a clear sense of the problem they are addressing, so that they are all heading in the same direction.

Exploring the Problem in Depth (Stage 3)

Often neglected in problem-solving, groups jump from problem identification directly to finding solutions without an adequate period of reflection and exploration.

Identifying Possible Solutions and Obstacles (Stage 4)

Imaginatively consider, brainstorm what options are available? What are the strengths and limitations of these alternatives? Is what the group is setting out to do doable?

Choosing a Solution, Trying it, and Evaluating it (Stage 5)

The solution was to pay attention and respond to what was happening inside the group and to reach beyond politeness and risk being straightforward with one another.

Providing members with the chance to practice being more direct rather than politely avoidant.

Trying out helped the group to learn that confrontation and aggression are not the same

Grappling with “Myth-Information” in the group

The boys were trading information about what they knew at the time regarding STD’s. Over time, they became more open about listening to and exploring different sources of information.

Examples of misinformation:

• “Herpes is when your dick blows up”

• “I know this girl who got gonorrhea of the throat by sucking a man’s dick”

In Social Work Groups there are the Traditional dual foci in which members are…

• Working on their own behalf

• Developing and promoting responsible citizenship and social goals beyond the group

Exploring the Problem identified as “short fuse”

1. Understanding the history of his temper and impulsive behaviour

2. Identifying high-risk situations or “red flags” that often led to his losing control

3. Sizing up the upcoming situation, the meeting with the principal

Barb Technique and Circle of Criticism

• Gradual exposure where adolescents are confronted with barbs or criticisms in the group as a precursor to learning self-control strategies and coping skills

• When using the “barbed” technique it’s important to teach group members who are delivering barbs or criticisms to remove the emotional infliction form their words to allow the recipient of their provocations more of a chance to reflect rather than act impulsively

Where the Members Are (In the Beginning) (7 things)

• Exploring and testing the situation

• Seeing where they fit

• Sizing each other up

• Struggling for power

• Competing for leadership

• Finding their roles

• Determining their status

Where the Members Are (By the End)

• Have found their place in the group

• Have found others they like (subgroups may form)

• Feel more accepted and understood

• Better accept and understand other members

• See themselves and the other members as distinct individuals

• Recognize similarities and differences and see differences as useful

• Acknowledge each others’ uniqueness

• See their own particular contribution

• Feel some affection for and desire to share with other members

Where the Members Are (Members)

• Seek to understand the perceptions that the worker and the other members have of the group

• Begin to understand the meaning of the group for them

• Begin to clarify their own goals and what they want to achieve in the group

• See that their goals can be met withing the group

Twin Anchors

• Belonging and competence are like twin anchors

  • “Am I ever gonna fit in?”

  • “Am I ever gonna be any good at anything?”

• The answer begins by relying on strengths-based group work principles, detailed earlier, to guide the group

• Strength-based approach to be used

Six-Dimensional Framework to Illustrate the use of Program with Adolescents (6 of them)

• Building a sense of competence

• Promoting a sense of belonging

• Encouraging expressiveness

• Instilling a sense of mindfulness

• Extending the bonds of belonging beyond the group itself

• Advancing social justice

Building a Sense of Competence (Stage 1)

Involves helping adolescents recognize their abilities, strengths, and capacity to influence their lives.

Promoting a Sense of Belonging (Stage 2)

Foundational for adolescent development. Group work creates a space where youth feel seen, valued, and connected.

Encouraging Expressiveness (Stage 3)

Adolescents need opportunities to express themselves authentically (Verbally, creatively, and emotionally)

Instilling a Sense of Mindfulness (Stage 4)

It’s about helping adolescents slow down, notice their internal states, and reflect on their choices.

Extending the Bonds of Belonging Beyond the Group (Stage 5)

The goal is to help adolescents build healthier relationships in their families, schools, and communities.

Advancing Social Justice (Stage 6)

Helping adolescents understand their experiences within the broader social systems that shape their lives and empowering them to challenge inequities.

Group Dynamics in the Separation Stage

• Reawakened dependency needs

• Excluding the worker

• Regressive behaviour

• Devaluating of the experience

• Flight

The Workers Role in the Separation Stage (4 Stages)

• Preparing the group for separation in a timely manner

• Focusing the expression of feelings through review and recapitulation

• Helping members reexperience their groupness through shared activity

• Providing availability of support beyond the group

Preparing the Group for Separation in a Timely Manner (Stage 1)

• Separation is a developmental challenge

• Preparation must begin early

• Name the ending directly

• Encouraging expression of mixed feelings

• Reviewing the groups journey

• Supporting transfer of learning

• Addressing unfinished business (unresolved conflicts)

• Leader Modeling (healthy goodbye’s)

• Rituals and meaning-making

• Clarifying post-group contact (members can stay in touch)

Focusing the Expression of Feelings through Review and Recapitulation (Stage 2)

• Provide group members with opportunity to look back at their time together, evaluate their experience, and express what it has meant to them and what they mean to one another

Helping Members Reexperience their Groupness through Shared Activity (Stage 3)

Using a shared task or creative activity to help adolescents reconnect with the group’s sense of unity, belonging, and collective identity.

Shared activity reactivates cooperation, trust, and the feeling of “we’re in this together.”

Providing Availability of Support Beyond the Group (Stage 4)

Ensuring that adolescents feel the group’s care, connection, and stability even outside the formal meeting time.