Roles in Group Work

Basic tasks of a Group leader :

Social Workers who are group members are qualified to carry out 3 tasks that can be very useful for the group in its functioning:

1. Consultation : to ask for and offer information and suggestions. it does not demand that the suggestion be accepted. it provides an expectation that all group members will examine the information and suggestion in the light of the social workers contribution.  this encourages the group to engage in style of joint assessment of clients in situations and for considering alternatives for developing solutions to problems and plan of action. 
2. Facilitation - it is a task that enables others to function. facilitation of the group process is one form of this task. SWrks can carry this in a number of ways. they can support the helpful behaviors of other group members, model useful behaviors, ask appropriate questions, or provide appropriate observations about the observations and feelings about the group. they can teach other group members about group processes and functioning. other means of facilitation are helping members stay on the topic, summarizing what has been said or decided and letting other members know their feelings are OK.some behaviors to avoid are criticizing others or their values, forcing ideas on group, making decisions that belong to the group, talking too much. the social worker studies the group and its functioning and decided what will most help the group at any point in a given time.
3. Coordination - this task calls for monitoring to learn if all members are carrying out their assigned tasks and that, in carrying out of the tasks, the work of each group member is done in a way that complements those of other members. . it is a task of insuring that the work of other members do not conflict but complements other members. much of this task is done b y building relationships. the social worker attempts to understand the position of every other group member and to gain an appreciation of the needs of each member in relation to the group task.

The worker group interaction happens in a number of ways including : 

1. through acceptance
2. through relationships
3. through enabling and supporting
4. through limiting behavior
5. through guiding
6. through alleviation
7. through interpreting
8. through observation and evaluation
9. through planning and preparation

the role of the social worker with the group is to help the members reach out to one another in such a way that they can help one another in meeting the needs of individual group members and in some way influence the environment so that group and individual needs are better met. The social workers role is influenced by the stage of group development and the stage of individual member development in the process. 

Group member/client roles in group work 

All groups whether therapeutic or problem solving whatever the objective might be require that both task roles and group building roles are performed satisfactorily. And these roles rely on members performing various roles in a group. this helps to strengthen the social, emotional aspects of group life. Johnson and Johnson summarized these roles as follows :

1. Information and opinion giver
2. information and opinion seeker
3. starter
4. direction giver
5. summarizer
6. coordinator
7. diagonizer
8. energizer
9. reality tester
10. evaluator

Group maintenance roles such as :

1. encourager of participation
2. harmonizer and compromiser
3. tension reliever
4. communication helper
5. evaluator of emotional climate
6. process observer
7. standard setter
8. active listener
9. trust builder
10. interpersonal problem solver

Reference :

Social Work Practice a generalist approach by Loiuse C Johnson, pg: 205

The practice of social work by charles zastrow, pg:146