THE SOCIAL WORK GROUP AND ITS DISTINCT HEALING QUALITIES IN THE HEALTH CARE SETTING

This article describes how the humanistic values and democratic norms fundamental to social group work are operationalized in groups in the medical setting. The author delineates numerous values and norms and identifies and describes the uses of practice interventions in health care groups. The focus is on group practice that provides a healing environment of caring, empowerment, and support for members. Practitioner efforts center on the development of group norms that enhance belonging in open-ended and closed groups, foster diversity in the group, include rather than exclude others, widen freedom of choice and open decision making, and help members question the authority of the worker as well as of the hospital system. Illustrative examples of group forms are included to demonstrate practice in this framework. What makes the social work group distinct as a healing form? One set of attributes unique to the social work group are the group's humanistic values, which revolve around social responsibili-ty and the right to well-being (Konopka, 1963). Second, social work group work is based on democratic norms; members ' interactions with one another are governed by democratic values (Glassman & Kates, 1986a, 1990). Third, the social work group has two distinct objectives (Glassman & Kates, 1990): the development of a democratic mutual aid system and the ac-tualization of purpose. Finally, the social worker's role is demystified in the social work group (Papell & Rothman, 1980), and the in-terventions emanate from the values, norms, and dual objectives of client and worker in equal measure. Glassman and Kates (1986a) identified nine values and 18 emergent norms that provide a context for healing and growth in the group. Framing interaction patterns, these norms furnish a corrective experience for members (Glassman & Skolnik, 1983), offering an oppor-tunity for emotional and social rehearsal for ac-cepting and being involved with others. Guided by humanistic values and democratic norms, the social worker states the necessity for creating a system that values caring, coopera-tion, and respect for difference, instead ofleav-ing emergence of the system to chance. By be-ing explicit, the worker becomes an importan