Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Week nine is asynchronous and marks a move away from assessing and understanding families (a specific type of group) to a two week unit exploring group work. Students will read Hepworth et al (2023) and their chapter about understanding group work. There are forums related to providing personal examples and participation in various types of group work, exploring the similarities/differences between family and group work, and connecting group norms to the social work orienting perspectives. In my lecture video we are going to discuss assessing group behavior and some examples of constructive verses problematic group work. During my lecture video I will speaking on some content from the textbook regarding evaluating groups.
Agenda
- Week nine content
- Group dynamics
- Assessing group patterned behavior
Learning objectives for the week include
- Recognize patterned behaviors in group members and evaluate their impact on group cohesion and goal attainment.
- Compare and contrast constructive and problematic group behaviors and propose strategies to support healthy group dynamics.
- Reflect on content from the textbook
- Analyze group dynamics, including norms, roles, and patterns of behavior, through the lens of social work orienting perspectives (e.g., strengths, cultural humility, trauma-informed practice).
- Evaluate task group functioning by examining decision-making, power dynamics, and group processes to improve effectiveness and cohesion.
Unit Assignments
Content
- Read Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 11 Understanding Social Work Groups
W-09 A-02 Asynchronous Engagement
The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can be related to the prompts or building on conversations shared by peers. There are five forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least six replies across any of the forums. These forums include the following:
- In the Chapter 11 Content Discussion, students reflect on foundational group work concepts discussed in the textbook including co-leadership, closed group dynamics, preliminary interviews, manualized curricula, and helping group members recognize behavioral patterns.
- The Examples of Social Work Group Work forum offers students a chance to share real-life or practicum-based group experiences, reflecting on processes, group types, and social work principles at play.
- Students consider how group norms can align with (or challenge) foundational social work perspectives in Group Norms and Connection with Social Work’s Orienting Perspectives.
- In the forum, Transition From Family to Group Work, students can compare family systems work with general group work.
- Analyzing relevant participation in task groups is used in the forum Considering Task Group Participation.
A-03 Reading Quiz
W-09 Hepworth et al. (2023) Chapter 11 is due by Saturday 10/25, 8:00 AM.
Unit Resources
All of the presentations for this class can be found at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 09 - Assessing Group Behavior.
The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course is where you will be able to find class recordings. The video this week is at Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 09.
Reference
Hepworth, D. H., Vang, P. D., Blakey, J. M., Schwalbe, C., Evans, C., Rooney, R. H., Rooney, G. D., & Strom, K. (2023). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills (11th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.
To-Do List
- Read chapter 11 and do the quiz
- Watch my lecture video
- Make six replies across any of the forums