The Legacy of William Schwartz by Alex Gitterman Lawrence Shulman

Author:Alex Gitterman, Lawrence Shulman [Alex Gitterman, Lawrence Shulman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Social Work
ISBN: 9781136551086
Google: UT9PEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-01-11T04:44:40+00:00

Conclusion

This paper has described a number of mutual aid processes that can be observed in a group. Of course, these will not necessarily happen by themselves. In fact, it is the difficulty for most groups in learning how to release these powerful forces for change and growth that creates the need for the group worker. While the potential for mutual aid is present in the group, it takes hard work by the group leader and all of its members if it is to emerge. There are many delicate moments in which the ability of the group member to take help, and the ability of the group to provide help seems to lie in the balance. For example, group members will be struggling with feelings and ideas about which they may feel ashamed. “I am that handicapped child's mother! How can I feel such strong feelings of hatred towards my own child?”

Strong societal taboos, injunctions against which declare some areas of discussion (e.g., sexual issues), or some feelings as out of bounds, operate to prevent us from honest discussion. These taboos will be brought from the broader society and erected in the microcosim of the small group society. As the small group gingerly approaches the taboo area, employing indirect communications such as “hints”, the worker will have to call the group members attention to the barrier and assist them in dealing with it, through a combination of support and demand. The members, for their part, will have to find the courage to enter the formerly forbidden areas, in response to the workers' gentle pushing, and begin to discover they are “all in the same boat.” The feelings for which they judged themselves so harshly, are normal for their situations. The subjects they felt were not for open discussion, the feelings they experienced as possibly too painful to be faced, all of these take on a managable status as the healing power of mutual aid begins its work.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss all of the obstacles and the ways in which the group leader can intervene to help. The crucial point, for now, is to recognize the power and potential of mutual aid in groups.

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