90 ● Patrick Vakaoti
students applied learned concepts and skills in the development of a lobby
or advocacy campaign, offered many students the first real opportunity to
be immersed with people in a grassroots or stakeholder group, community,
or organizational setting. They recorded many valuable learning experiences,
including the need to be nonjudgmental and culturally sensitive, identifying
and resolving group conflicts, and working with others as equal partners
in a project. The students also indicated experiencing moments of personal
growth and reflectivity. (As a word of caution, working in groups of col-
leagues or with groups of stakeholders does not mean that one can work
effectively as a group worker.)
Whereas working with communities, organizations, and groups is taken
for granted in educational programs in the human services and social work,
this is not normally the case in sociology programs. Unless their training
institutions or programs offer opportunities for practicing applied aspects of
sociology, the majority of sociology students will experience applied aspects
of sociology firsthand only after graduation. This chapter concurs with the
view espoused by Spalter-Roth et al. (2010) that the majority of students
who undertake sociology majors at university do so because they want to
understand the nature of society, the issues that plague it, and how these can
be addressed. The fulfilment of this aspiration, particularly for students who
prioritize the values of equality and nondiscrimination, can be best attained
in the context of working with communities and groups, which, according
to Finkelstein (2010, 100), constitute “the laboratory in sociology.” To work
in these settings requires an understanding of group work and some basic
competencies for working in groups in the various employment sectors, such
as health, education, criminal justice, and sports.
Group WorkDefining Group Work
According to Healy (2012, 137), “groupwork [sic] is the practice of bringing
together a group of people to achieve a shared purpose.” Depending on its
purpose, group work may be influenced by particular theoretical perspectives
and may be applied in a variety of settings, and group work may involve
different kinds of groups of people. Payne (2005) identified three general
perspectives useful in guiding group work: the remedial view, which focuses
on altering social behavior; the reciprocal view, which sees the group worker
and group members together designing and working toward a particular
purpose; and the social goals view, popular in youth and community group
work circles, in which the purpose is to “pursue external goals, such as education
or community activities” (Payne 2005, 46).