Social Work Practice with Families and Groups

Assignment # 3 Designing a Group

General instructions: This assignment requires you to develop a 10 session group for a population of interest to you and answer specific questions about your group. You will apply the concepts and theories discussed in SOWK 545 to the formation and discussion of your group. Your group must be based on an evidence based practice appropriate for the populationor problem of your choosing. This assignment can be completed independently or you can elect to work with 1-2 partners. If this assignment is completed by a group, all group members will receive the same grade, regardless of contribution.

Examples of group topics include:
•    A group for people whose spouses have deployed in the military
•    A group for teens who are aging out of foster care
•    A group for family members who care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease
•    A group to organize tenants to protest poor living conditions in their apartments
•    A group for people charged with interpersonal violence
•    A group for people concerned about bullying in a school

Keep in mind when choosing your target population that the intervention for the group must be evidence based.

Instructions for paper:

Section one: (3 pages maximum) Using the assigned readings and independent research, provide a detailed description of the following group elements:

•    What population is the group designed to serve? The more specific you can be the better.
•    What is the purpose of the group?
•    What is the type of group? Provide a rationale for your decision.
•    How will you choose group members? Provide a rationale for your decision.
•    Will the group be closed or open ended? Provide a rationale for your decision.
•    Discuss the evidence of the best practices to be used for the group.

Section two: (10pages – one for each weeks’ session) Design the curriculum for a 10 week group. For most groups, each session will last one hour, although you may choose to increase or decrease the amount of time based on factors such as the type of group and the population. If you choose to have sessions of more or less than one hour, you must specify the reasonin Section 3. Specify the session topic, session goal, materials needed for the session, detailed plan for the hour includingactivities. Session should be based on use ofbest practices research noted by you in section one.

Section three: (2 pages maximum) Discuss the following questions, integrating research articles whennecessary.

•    If you chose to have the group last more or less than one hour, explain your rationale.
•    How did you decide what to integrate into the sessions?
•    What special skills or leadership abilities by the social worker are required for running the group?
•    Is the group suitable for clients from a variety of racial, ethnic, SES and other backgrounds? Explain your answer.

Section four: (2 pages maximum) Prepare an evaluation plan for your group. How will you assess if the group was effective or ineffective?Please be detailed e.g., if you are using standardized pre and post- test measures be sure to mention and cite these and whether or not these are reliable and valid instruments. If you are developing a questionnaire please provide the questionnaire in the appendix section of the paper. If you are using interviews, then include the interview questions in the appendix.

Papers should be typed, and double spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font. Papers will be evaluated on the thoroughness of the assignment, the theoretical justification of content, integration of empirical evidenced-based content, the quality of the written work (graduate level writing, organization, flow, clarity, depth, mechanics of writing such as grammar, spelling, etc.), and the correct application of APA style. Use a minimum of 9 scholarly references outside of the syllabus in the paper. For VAC students, please do not cite VAC asynchronous material. Late papers without having prior permission from the instructor will be subject to grade penalties where 2 points will be deducted per day late (24 hours). (Please keep in mind that extensions are only granted under extreme circumstances and up to the instructor’s discretion).