Groupwork on the edge : embracing the messiness of group facilitation with marginalised peoples

This article reports on a poster presentation at SWSD18 which explored concepts of discomfort and messiness in terms of what they mean for participants, facilitators and auspicing agencies of groupwork. Where ‘tidy’ theory does not prepare social workers for the ‘messiness’ of groupwork practice, the poster proposes a model for working with group processes that captures both linear and organic understandings. Further, the poster explores opportunities for maximising the benefits of groupwork in the context of unpredictable group processes as well as participants’ and facilitators’ potentially chaotic lives