86 ● Patrick Vakaoti
development—that already emphasize the connections between knowledge
and its application. These disciplines offer practical orientations to addressing
social issues. Although tensions between these disciplines and sociology are
acknowledged (see also chapter 1), the focus on enriching students’ prepared-
ness offers sociology educators an opportunity to identify areas of natural
convergence that would enhance student learning and contribute to what all
these disciplines generally strive for: the creation of a just and equitable society.
Given sociology students’ current lack of exposure to group work in the
course of their education, this chapter discusses some of the important concepts
and competencies required for working with groups. It has a particular focus on
work in New Zealand with young people from a Pacific background—that
is, having a Pacific Islands ethnicity—with the belief that the considerations
for this work can be applied in work with other minority groups elsewhere.
(There are large numbers of people of Pacific Islands ethnicity in New Zealand,
around 7 percent of the population, owing to the islands’ relative geographic
proximity to New Zealand and to historical, cultural, and administrative con-
nections. Although peoples of this group are referred to internationally as
Pacific Islands peoples, in New Zealand they are referred to as Pacific peoples.
For the sake of simplicity, the latter terminology is adhered to in this chapter.)
Sociology graduates from New Zealand universities typically find employ-
ment either in the public sector or in community development work, with
few pursuing a career in the private sector. They are likely to find them-
selves working with Pacific peoples—in some cases specifically with young
people. Because of the cultural realities of their Pacific clients, human service
workers often adopt approaches that have a community or group dimension.
The focus is commonly on encouraging and promoting volunteerism among
Pacific peoples—the use and involvement of the grassroots community’s
volunteer labor—to support extended families, the church, and ethnic and
island communities (Vakaoti 2013). It is rare, by contrast, for community
and group work to be undertaken in order to challenge and address social
disadvantages, or problematic behavioral and personal issues that may arise as
a result of the social and economic marginalization of Pacific young people.
Pacific young people may be dually marginalized when their identity forma-
tion deviates not only from dominant New Zealand cultural expectations
but also from traditional Pacific community expectations, values, and beliefs.
Working effectively with Pacific peoples requires both generic competencies
to work effectively with groups and an understanding of the unique group
characteristics and particular issues impacting Pacific peoples. Development
of these competencies and this knowledge will contribute to graduates’ skill
sets and assist with their employability.