The Group Analysis - Essay Example

Group Analysis Groups interact in different ways and coming up with a positive working relationship requires interaction skills that cut across different modalities of theoretical orientation and intervention. Interactions have a beginning, middle and an ending phase and each phase is very important in assisting an individual to develop a healthy relationship in a group. It is vital to understand the elements that are associated with interaction in different intervention modalities. These intervention modalities include individuals, group work and family (Shulman, 2008). The primary focus in this paper will be on group work. A group is a coalition of individuals who require each at different levels so that they can work on a certain common problem. In a group, there is need to use each other and create helping relationships which is very vital to any group process. However, it is not a guarantee that when individuals come together aid will emerge. There are many obstacles that can block the ability of the members of the group to reach one another and offer help. The group members have to learn how to cope with developmental and maturational tasks and demands that require adaptation and changes within the group (Greene and Greene, 2008). Beginning Stage The group that is our class started on August 30, 2010. At the beginning, there was no much interaction because every one was a stranger to one another. The first thing an individual feels when meeting people in a group for the first time in many cases is fear. Shulman (2008) describes it as fear-of-group syndrome. The first concept is the fear-of-group syndrome. Feeling unease is common thing when meeting people for the first time. One clearly notes this is the beginning phase of a group during introductions. The fear-of-group syndrome emerges at this point (Shulman, 2008). The tone of the voice may suggest that this person has never led a group or worked in a group. An individual may decide to keep quiet because of fear and this can result to the individual withdraw from the group’s activities. During the beginning of our class, some students were afraid of introducing themselves or opening up to other members of the group. The tone of voice in some indicated that they were not that willing to interact with the rest of the group. The second concept is discussing a taboo area. Norms and taboos are different in each community. Re-creation of a group into a micro-society involves bringing together norms, rules, expectations and taboos from the group members’ experiences. A difficult task here is to create new norms and challenge taboos in order to develop a group that is more effective (Shulman, 2008). Our class is composed of students who come from different cultural backgrounds and social classes. Cross cultural communication proved quite challenging as what some of us though were norms such as holding other people’s shoulders and shaking hands were considered taboo to other members of the group. Developing new norms for the whole group was quite challenging. Some did not feel comfortable with some of the norms but they eventually accepted them. Middle Stage In this stage the members have learned how to talk directly about their feelings and are ready to form meaningful relationships. They talk to one another and they relatively know what the leader and the group expects of them. The members are more willing to work and practice outside the group in order to achieve behavioral changes (Corey, 2007). Changes that occur can either be positive or negative. For example, trust for one another can be built or broken. The tone, dynamics and the atmosphere at this stage changes. The changes are often conflict ridden. The group is faced with problems such as divisions among individuals and subgroups, unrest and complaints over group structure, processes and goals, and leadership challenges. The stage is characterized by the group trying to manage its own affairs. The challenge in this case is on the leadership (Hepworth et al., 2009). Concepts that emerge in this stage are entirely dependent on leadership strategies and they include; minimizing changes, increasing effective communication, developing therapeutic group norms and encouraging balanced feedback. Changes such as introduction of a new leader, moving to a new meeting place, addition or loss of a member or change in the meeting time are some of the inner and outer stressors that can affect the effectiveness of a group. This is because the members of the groups had not yet fully entered into the group and such changes tend to draw them back. For example, making a significant change in the group structure without the consent of the group members may cause the group members to conclude that the group is not important or the leader disregards the group (Hepworth et al., 2009). An example in our group is when the norms were changed. The change was met with a lot of resentment because it did not make sense to us why a sudden change could occur at that time. Negative interactions can occur among group members. Feedback must be kept balanced to ensure that negative interactions do not occur. The right tone must set when the group members are giving out their feedback. The feedback also translates to the member’s willingness to participate in a group activity, for example, giving full attention to the group activity, accepting differing beliefs, opinions and values, and participating in the group’s discussions (Hepworth et al., 2009). Most of the group members were participating fully in the group’s activities and some went to an extent of assisting the others in doing some of the tasks. Ending Stage This stage is characterized integrating the group experiences. The members try to identify what they had learned and how the learning can become resourceful to them. The group activities in the ending stage include summarizing, terminating, interpreting and integrating the group’s experiences. At the ending stage, the group deals with unfinished businesses, reviews the group experiences, identifies strategies to deal with relapse and builds a supportive network (Corey et al., 2008). The ending stage is characterized by the following concepts; interpreting, self-disclosing and feedback. During the ending stage, members of the group experience interactions that directly or indirectly provide an opportunity to learn more about themselves. In such a case a leader can be very resourceful in providing guidance and encouraging the group members to make use of the group experiences. Thus interpretations can be very helpful to explain certain situations. For example, if the leader makes too many interpretations, the group members may end up not making any interpretation because they will view the leader as an expert. Interpretations are very important because they tend to explain certain situations or events or even behaviors (DeLucia-Waack, 2004). Towards the end of our group activities, interpretations were made for what we experienced and the situations we faced in the process. A good example is how the group activities helped us and what we could conclude from them. Self-disclosure involves revealing personal feelings, here-and-now reactions, and experiences to a group. This is mostly done by the leader and it helps the group members to view the leader as a person. Self-disclosure helps to elude the perceived notions held by the group members of their leader. At the ending stage of our group, the instructor took us in a process of self-disclosure and at the end many things came to light. We perceived the instructor as domineering and heartless but at the end of it, we realized we were wrong. Conclusion Group analysis is vital because it assists us to understand the different situations we undergo from the inception of the group till its end. At the initial stages we are faced with uncertainties and blurred expectations but as we move on everything becomes clear. Challenges are inevitable in a group and how we perceive them, determines the success of that group. Solution to these challenges lies within us. The most critical stage in any group is the initial or the beginning stage. This is because it is the stage where we lay foundation of our future relationship. It is the stage where new norms are created to unite the group. Thus it is important to make sure everyone fits well in the group. Another important stage is the working stage. At this stage the group can break easily if one is not careful. The stages are important and if the right things are done, the group will be successful. References Corey, C., Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2008). Groups: Process and practice. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Corey, G. (2007). Theory and practice of group counseling. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. DeLucia-Waack, J. L. (2004). Handbook of group counseling and psychotherapy. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Greene, R. & Greene, R. R. (2008). Human behavior theory & social work practice. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Hepworth, D. H., Larsen, J. A., Rooney, G. D., Rooney, R. H. & Storm-Gottfried, K. (2009). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Shulman, L. The skills of helping individuals, families, groups, and communities. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Read More