Social Work with Groups

Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change

N. Sullivan, L. Mitchell, D. Goodman, N.C. Lang, E.S. Mesbur

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135421335
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

Help change the world by bringing ideas of social justice into your group work practice! Social workers who use hip-hop music to reach out to troubled adolescents. Practitioners who compare First Nations talking circles with social work practice with groups. A retired professor who transforms the way her fellow senior living center residents participate in their world. Fathers of children with spina bifida who help one another through an online discussion group. These and other examples you'll discover in Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change will help you to assist groups to gain a sense of empowerment and create change in their own lives and communities. In Social Work with Groups: Social Justice Through Personal, Community, and Societal Change you'll also find:

• definitions of social justice within the context of social work
• a proposal to help focus on social justice in teaching
• guidelines for group facilitators making decisions about self-disclosure
• studies of innovative group work
• discussion of the challenges to achieving social justice in group work
• valuable ways to ground social group work in rich cultural traditions

This new book rides the crest of the growing wave of justice in social work with groups. Culled from the proceedings of the 22nd International Symposium of the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, it gives you the innovations and current thinking of professionals who, while coming from different cultural and professional backgrounds, are focused on helping all people enjoy the same rights and opportunities. If you want to use group work to challenge social inequality, Social Work with Groups will be a welcome addition to your library. Social action that gets results has to start somewhere—let it begin with you!

SECTION III:
SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL WORK WITH GROUPS

Chapter 9

Meet Them in The Lab: Using Hip-Hop Music Therapy Groups with Adolescents in Residential Settings

Susan Ciardiello

Adolescence is a stage of development plagued by turbulence and rebellion, and it is especially challenging for youth in residential settings (Brown, 1986). Traumas that led them into care, such as abuse, rejection, and abandonment, have left them with a mistrustful and negative lens through which to view the world. These experiences have conditioned the residents to react to people and situations in ways that cause further rejection and disapproval. Their lives are also compounded by the daily stress inherent in residential programs. Residents have no control over the simplest areas of life, such as when they eat, sleep, and where and when they can go out (Schnekenberger, 1995). Strict rules and rigid expectations permeate these homes and set many of them up for failure rather than provide a helpful structural environment. Residents often test authority in angry or passive-aggressive ways, resulting in more restrictions on their freedom (Casey and Cantor, 1983).

Many of these agencies also maintain problem-focused therapeutic programming where the adolescents are expected to attend individual or verbal group therapy (Gold and Kolodny, 1978). Programs that emphasize pathology often create barriers for adolescents. The social stigma of therapy, and the expectations that they will have to talk about their character flaws and problem behaviors, often repels them from this type of treatment (Brown, 1986). Studies have discovered that more than 50 percent of all teenagers referred to treatment drop out after their first few sessions (Katch, 1988). Refusal to attend therapy is termed by a vast number of mental health professionals as “resistance,” and phrases such as “adolescent is resistant to therapy” can be found in many agency progress notes and/or psychosocial reports. However, are they “resistant,” or are we failing to engage them in treatment?

Gitterman (1983) addresses this question in his assertion that “labeling a client's behavior as resistant often enables workers to avoid confronting deficiencies in their agencies and themselves” (p. 127), which relieves them of looking into their inadequate methods of engagement. As a result, residents in care are often left without therapeutic support, vulnerable to repeating their own or their families' un-desirable behaviors that often precipitated their placements. It seems the traditional problem-focused approach to treatment is not helping many adolescents in care (Garland, 1992). It is suggested that workers consider adolescents' therapeutic needs and interests in order to learn how to engage them (Kurland, 1978; Malekoff, 1997).

THE NEEDS OF ADOLESCENTS IN CARE

Adolescents in care have a strong need to initiate and maintain some autonomy and control in their lives (Casey and Cantor, 1983). They need a safe place where their feelings, views, and strengths can be expressed, attended to, and nurtured (Malekoff, 1997). Residents need to learn how to contain and rechannel their strong emotions in safer ways, and they need help connecting past experiences with current undesirable behaviors. They also need to develop trusting relationships with adults and the peers with whom they reside (Resnick, 1978). Residents often assert their need for more freedom and meaningful activity. Thus, they are in need of legitimate social outlets during after-school hours.

When considering their needs, it appears that a more cooperative and empowering approach to treatment is warranted. A group work approach that includes the residents' interests can serve this purpose.

THE USE OF GROUP MEMBERS' INTERESTS IN PROGRAMMING

Many group work scholars agree that using activities based on members' interests is an effective way to engage adolescent clients (Gold and Kolodny, 1978; Middleman, 1980; Casey and Canter, 1983; Brown, 1986; Malekoff, 1997). Gold and Kolodny (1978) propose that success is more likely when group members' interests are used as the medium for working on interpersonal challenges. Additional benefits to the use of members' interests in programming include a decrease in adolescent anxiety levels and high levels of engagement and commitment among members (Casey and Cantor, 1983). Furthermore, when group members initiate and suggest the activities that are used in programming, they are given a chance to exercise some control in their lives (Brown, 1986). Meeting this need is a key factor to connecting and working with adolescents (Casey and Cantor, 1983). Finally, including the residents' interests creates an environment of comfort and openness without the stigma that accompanies programs organized around specific problems (Brown, 1986). Thus, in order to create an engaging therapeutic program, workers must identify and learn what the members enjoy and find interesting.

With this objective in mind and the challenging task of engaging group home residents into a therapeutic program, I “met them” in their group homes, and asked a simple question, “What do you enjoy?” The residents identified hip-hop or rap music. So, I learned the culture of hip-hop.

HIP-HOP CULTURE

Hip-hop is a contemporary culture that includes music, dance, film, graffiti art, dress, language, and expressions. In 1976, hip-hop was born in the Bronx, when a group of disc jockeys (DJs) began throwing free parties in parks, creating open-air community centers in neighborhoods where there were none. Each DJ had a master of ceremony (emcee) who would talk to the crowd and tell them to “get up and dance.” Eventually, the emcees started to tell stories about life in the ghetto in rhymes over the DJ's music. A few years later, emcees started to record their own music.

The music began to saturate urban streets and homes all across the country (Brewster and Broughton, 1999). The real-life portrayals of the complexities of urban life hit home to many urban dwellers. It empowered them to create a culture that reflected their plight. Hip-hop music replicates and reimagines the experiences of urban life with talk of gang wars, street violence, drugs, prostitution, domestic violence, parental abandonment, and economic stagnation. Such urban realities leap out of hip-hop lyrics, sounds, and themes (Fernando, 1994). Its popularity grew rapidly and now, over twenty years later, hip-hop is the largest music industry in the world (Brewster and Broughton, 1999).

Hip-hip music serves as an outlet for adolescents. They listen to the rappers' life struggles and identify with them. For adolescents in care who are overwhelmed with feelings of loss, rejection, and abandonment, the music fits into their world because many hip-hop songs are flooded with similar life challenges. The Lab is a group work program that uses activities based on the residents' interest in hip-hop culture as the medium for change. The following is a deeper look into the program model, to illuminate the different theoretical frameworks that are at work in The Lab.

THE LAB GROUP WORK PROGRAM MODEL: ACTIVITY-CENTERED THERAPY (ACT)

The theoretical framework for The Lab is what I refer to as activity-centered therapy (ACT) programming. The ACT program model can be described as a therapeutic melting pot because there are a number of theoretical frameworks that are integrated into its philosophy. These include sociorecreation (the activities); psychotherapy (group discussions of life themes, worker as observer and interpreter); cognitive-behavioral principles (peer models and reward system); and psycho-education (skill development).

Sociorecreation

Sociorecreation, or the use of activities in group work, is a central component of ACT group programming. The Lab uses the group members' interest in hip-hop music and integrates it into a therapeutic activity (Casey and Cantor, 1983; Middleman, 1980; Rose, 1998). Using activities in groups can tap into members' strengths and foster their creativity in problem solving and self-expression (Malekoff, 1997). Activities such as games, arts and crafts, music, and/or drama are integrated into therapeutic groups and are the primary medium in which feelings are expressed (Middleman, 1980; Malekoff, 1997; Garvin, 1997; Rose, 1998). In The Lab, activities include decorating the program room(s); listening to, writing about, and discussing song lyrics; and creating original music. Regarding the activity of decorating the program room(s), The Lab is presented to the members as their place to decorate and make their own. They are invited to paint murals on the walls, use graffiti art, and arrange wall hangings or posters as they wish. This offers them some ownership and control of the program. I found that this ownership process sets off internal controls within the residents that makes them more protective of the equipment and makes stealing and property destruction a rarity. It seems what they feel they own, they treat better.

Psychotherapy

Listening to and discussing song lyrics incorporates the psycho-therapeutic process into the program model. This activity is also referred to as Hip-Hop therapy (HHT). HHT is a nonjudgmental approach that uses hip-hop music to provoke discussion and the critical analysis of issues, ideas, and events that impact youth (Tyson, 1998). Lyrical analysis activates buried emotions and experiences and brings them to the surface for discussion (Mazza and Price, 1985). There is empirical support for the use of popular music as a therapeutic group technique (Arnold, 1980; Mazza and Price, 1985; Lyons, 2000). Music enhances early engagement through a non-threatening medium and facilitates group process. It breaks down resistance and allows workers to reach affect and behaviors that might not be as accessible through traditional modes of group work (Mazza and Price, 1985; Garvin, 1997). Furthermore, music has been used in group work with adolescents (Tyson, 1998). Songs universalize many of the adolescents' feelings and experiences and help them to feel less alone. Lyrical analysis helps stimulate group discussions about their presenting problems and how such challenges came into existence (Mazza and Price, 1985).

In The Lab, HHT is implemented in the following way. In an hour-long group session, the members first listen to a hip-hop song as they read the lyrics. The worker can look up the lyrics on the Internet, print them out, and then make copies for the members to read as they listen to the songs. Once the song is over, the members quietly write their reactions in their journals. Writing their reactions down promotes self-expression in a nonthreatening way (Schnekenberger, 1995). Furthermore, the inclusion of journal writing allows the members to self-disclose at their own pace and comfort levels.

Next, the members are invited to share their reactions with the group. Talking about difficult issues in the third person also helps members feel more comfortable to disclose at their own pace. Specifically, lyrics reveal hip-hop artists' experiences and views, which allow the members to discuss anxiety-producing issues in the third person. This is important because adolescents vary in their ability to tolerate anxiety during emotionally charged discussions (Levine, 1978). Discussing issues in the third person is safer, less threatening, and allows anxiety and tension to be regulated and maintained (Hurley, 1984). Malekoff (1991) adds, “Experiences and feelings which seem otherwise inaccessible emerge more readily in the third person context” (p. 110). This use of the third person also helps mitigate the likelihood of acting-out behavior that is often a result of overwhelming feelings of anxiety and tension.

The hip-hop songs used in The Lab are consistent with themes and experiences familiar to the group (see Table 9.1). The worker selects songs according to the developmental stage of the group. In the beginning phase of group work, songs with less emotionally charged issues are used (e.g., first love experiences or faith in God). Once mutual trust and cohesion have been established during the middle phase, songs with more powerful and sensitive themes are used (e.g., familial abuse or out-of-home placement).

In The Lab, Middleman's (1978) worker skills are put into practice. More specifically, the worker uses two reaching skills: reaching for a feeling link and reaching for an information link to maximize group process. The worker reaches for a feeling link by asking members to identify and connect their emotions with the feelings expressed in the songs and by the other members. The worker reaches for an information link by asking the members to connect their ideas, opinions, and beliefs with those expressed by the hip-hop artist and one another. Reaching for stories in the group members helps the worker bridge the gap between...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Titles of Related Interest
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• About the Editors
• Contibutors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Section I: Social Justice and Social Work with Groups
• Section II: Social Justice in Theory for Social Work with Groups
• Section III: Social Justice in the Practice of Social Work with Groups
• Section IV: Social Justice in Social Work Education and Research for Social Work with Groups
• Index