Working with Children in Groups

A Handbook for Counsellors, Educators and Community Workers

Kathryn & David Geldard

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781350317130
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

With its effective outcomes, relative speed and reduced costs, the group format is becoming increasingly popular for work with children in counselling and educational settings. Drawing from their extensive experience of running children's groups and training group leaders, Kathryn and David Geldard describe the entire process of running groups from the initial planning to post-group evaluation.Topics covered include the benefits and disadvantages of running groups and the types of group available, as well as the planning, designing, implementation and evaluation of group programmes. Filled with lots of ideas, activities, games and work-sheets for use in group programmes, as well as examples of complete programmes for particular problems such as domestic violence and low self-esteem, this highly accessible and practical book will be an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to run groups for children.

PART I

GROUPS FOR CHILDREN

1	Why run groups?

Over a long period of time groups for children have been successfully run to fulfil a variety of purposes. Perhaps the most common example of the use of groups for children is in schools, where children are grouped together in ways which are intended to maximise their opportunities for learning. For many years community and religious organisations have run children’s groups for particular purposes. In the past, many of these groups were intended to be character building. They were also used to help children learn particular social or religious beliefs and values, to help them develop social skills by interacting with other children and to develop and strengthen particular personal qualities.

In today’s society, there are many different types of groups for children run by a wide range of organisations. Community, religious, government and private organisations and agencies commonly run children’s groups. Groups for children are often established in schools, hospitals, mental health services and residential facilities. In recent times groups for children have been used successfully in many different settings to help children deal with emotional, behavioural, social, mental health and developmental problems.

In this book the emphasis will be primarily on groups designed to prevent dysfunctional or maladaptive behaviour, to promote personal growth and to facilitate emotional or behavioural change.

ADVANTAGES OF GROUP WORK

Before planning to run a particular children’s group, a decision needs to be made whether running a group for the children concerned will be more appropriate than working individually with each child. It needs to be recognised that some children are best helped individually whereas others will benefit more by participating in a group programme.

When working individually with children a significant relationship inevitably develops between the child and the worker. Although such a relationship is helpful for children who can cope with a degree of intimacy with an adult, other children may act out, much as they would in other close relationships. For such children group work may be the best option as it diffuses the intensity of the relationship with the worker. Strong relationships do develop in a group, but for many children these tend to be directed more to peers than to the leaders (Swanson, 1996).

Some parents worry about their child entering into a one-to-one relationship with an adult in a situation where they are not present themselves. In these cases the parents’ anxiety is likely to be an obstacle to effective outcomes. A similar level of parental anxiety is less likely to occur in a group situation.

When deciding whether or not to use group work, the personalities of the children concerned, the nature of their problems, and their own and their family’s preferences need to be taken into account. Additionally, where there are mental health problems, consideration may need to be given to the provision of medication to enable some children to benefit from a group intervention.

When making a decision about whether to work with children individually or in a group, leaders need to be aware of the advantages of group work, and must have a conviction that group work can be used to foster healthy development and become a catalyst for growth (Kymissis, 1996).

Advantages of group work include:

1. Groups can promote change.

2. A group can parallel the wider social environment.

3. A group provides a sense of belonging.

4. Common needs can be addressed in a group.

5. Groups are cost effective.

Groups can promote change

Rose and Edleson (1987) draw attention to the power of children’s groups in promoting change in individual group members. They point out that children do much of their learning by interacting with, observing and listening to peers. They believe that peer reinforcement is often more powerful than adult reinforcement and can be achieved in groups. Additionally they point out that a group can provide a child with a major source of feedback about behaviours that are annoying or pleasing to other children, and about those cognitions that appear to others to be self-defeating or self-enhancing. Thus change is promoted and can be facilitated by skilful group leaders who provide an opportunity for children to learn skills involved in giving and receiving feedback. By providing feedback to help others, the children in a group learn strategies for helping themselves.

As well as providing an opportunity for giving and receiving feedback in a safe environment, a group setting can provide an opportunity for the sharing of emotional experiences and for experimenting with new skills and behaviours (Berkovitz, 1987a,b). Leaders can construct situations in which children have opportunity, instruction and rewards for reinforcing others in the group. As children learn to reinforce others, they are likely to be reciprocally reinforced by the other children. Consequently, relationships can be enhanced and the children may start to value each other’s opinions. They may learn to deal with and tolerate differences in beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. The group can then be encouraged to generalise skills learnt in the group to their wider environment.

Often children’s emotional and physical behaviours are the consequence of values, opinions, beliefs and attitudes which require modification if change is to occur. Children have limited life experience and are in a process of continuous learning. A group can provide an excellent forum for the dissemination of information which may be helpful in enabling group members to change the way they think, and consequently to change the ways they feel and behave. For example, groups can be used for the teaching of protective behaviours for children who have been emotionally, physically or sexually abused. Similarly they can be used to teach new moral values such as ‘abuse is not OK’ for children who have witnessed domestic violence.

A group can parallel the wider social environment

A group provides an environment which in some ways simulates the wider world in which the child lives and may have some resemblance to the natural peer group. However, in contrast to the wider environment, a group can provide a level of safety for the child. The experience of being in a safe setting provides the child with more time to experiment and process information with support and encouragement. This may enable the child to become more fully self-aware, rather than to be reactive to a hostile environment. Through increased self-awareness the child may consequently change. The child may also observe the interactions and behaviours of others in the group and change may occur through vicarious learning. Because of the experiential characteristics of groups and the power of peer interactions in them, it seems probable that children in a group may be more likely to change than they would be in a one-to-one relationship with an adult.

If we are to help children we need to remember that their social interaction is a key aspect of their developmental process. When a child’s normal development has been disrupted in some way, there will often be consequences with regard to his or her social behaviour with peers. Hence, interventions that directly address the interrelationships of childhood are likely to benefit the child more broadly than interventions that do not deal with these interrelationships (Kymissis, 1996). It therefore follows that there are advantages to be gained by working with children in an environment which specifically involves social interaction. A group setting provides such an environment.

For many children the advantages to be gained from social interaction by working in a group will outweigh the benefits of working individually. Additionally, for some children it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve desired changes by working individually, whereas these changes may be readily achieved in a group setting. For example, it is very difficult to help children change maladaptive social behaviours or to acquire socially appropriate skills when working with them individually. Similarly, it may be difficult to help a child to gain in self-esteem when working individually because self-esteem is often dependent on a child’s success or failure in interacting positively with peers. In the individual counselling situation the counsellor is unable to observe the child’s interactional behaviours with peers, and the child is not able to get feedback from other children in the safety of a therapeutic setting. Additionally, the opportunity to practise appropriate social skills with peers, under the guidance of the counsellor, is not available. In contrast, a group provides an excellent environment for learning and practising useful and effective social skills, as well as for developing self-esteem. For these particular purposes groups are clearly advantageous when compared with individual work. Furthermore, there are a number of different ways (see Chapter 2) in which group work offers opportunities for preventing the development of dysfunctional or maladaptive behaviour, promoting personal growth and facilitating change; opportunities which are not available when working with a child individually.

A group provides a sense of belonging

A normal developmental need of children is to have a sense of belonging, and this is achieved by being a member of one or more groups. For many children the most important group they belong to is their family. They may also belong to a number of other groups, such as peer groups, social and sporting groups. Often children who have specific problems become socially isolated and do not feel as though they fit comfortably in the groups available to them. By working in a group rather than individually, such children can be enabled to experience a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging may help them to develop positive feelings about themselves, to address problem issues and engage in personal growth.

The sense of belonging engendered by a group can provide children with motivation to work together and to pursue common goals with the aim of achieving positive outcomes for the whole group and for individual children in it. As identified by Fiedler (1967) an event which affects one member in a group is likely to affect all members. It is therefore likely that a high level of interdependence will develop in a group. This helps to boost feelings of belonging and being needed. The resulting cohesion will influence and strengthen values through consensus. As cohesion develops, so the group will develop an energy of its own which will provide a stimulus for change and action, both within and outside the group.

A sense of belonging is very important for those children who have experienced troubling life situations or events. They may be unable to talk to others about their experience either because they do not think others could understand, or because they are ashamed or embarrassed because of their experiences. For these children a sense of belonging within a group enables them to feel less marginalised and to have an opportunity to normalise their experiences with consequent reduction of feelings of stigmatisation (LeCroy and Rose, 1986).

Common needs can be addressed

Often there are considerable advantages in working with children who have common needs in a group setting rather than an individual setting. Frequently workers in an agency, government department, hospital, clinic, school or other educational institution discover they are involved with a number of individual children who have common needs. Sometimes these children may all be clients of the workers involved. At other times they may include children in the wider community who demonstrate similar problems and/or needs. Staff members may observe that children in the neighbourhood are being, or have been, negatively affected by a common occurrence or event. For example, children may have been traumatised by a fatal shooting (Fatout, 1996). Such children have had a common experience and may have been similarly affected.

In a school setting there may be groups of children who have study problems, social skills problems, who are bullies or are being bullied, or who have difficulty in managing particular emotions or behaviours. There may also be a number of children who share a common disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or an anxiety disorder.

In any community generally there are certain to be numbers of children who have experienced family dysfunction, family break-up, domestic violence, the problems of blended families, the loss of a significant other through death or separation or who have suffered neglect, physical or emotional abuse.

Mental health workers are faced with meeting the demands of children with a wide range of problems including those children who are suicidal, psychotic, have personality disorders, impulse control disorders, adjustment disorders and those who suffer from anxiety, stress and depression. Moreover, at the beginning of the twenty-first century in western society, workers are increasingly needing to help children who have drug and alcohol related problems.

Hospital staff are confronted with the emotional problems of children with severe disability, those who have siblings or parents who are dying, those who are disabled and those who have chronic illness.

With every type of problem described above it would be possible to address each child’s needs individually, provided that the human service resources were available. By using group work so that the children’s needs are addressed collectively, a larger number of children may be able to receive help simultaneously. Furthermore, the help may be more effective because of the special characteristics of group work.

In the past many workers assumed that children who are in crisis or who experienced a severe trauma, for example death of a significant other, were poor candidates for groups. This assumption was often made on the basis that such children would not receive the necessary support and guidance in a group that could be...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures and tables
• Introduction
• PART I: GROUPS FOR CHILDREN
• PART II: PLANNING A GROUP PROGRAMME
• PART III: RUNNING A GROUP PROGRAMME
• PART IV: GROUP PROGRAMMES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES
• APPENDICES
• References
• Index