As a group leader and group member analyzing my lab groups participation I chose to examine the groups experience in the following area’s ofdevelopment deviant behavior, leadership style, manipulator, mutual aid practice with short-term groups and composition.
Deviant member is describe as two major forms; one being “deviant behavior as a form of communication.” Second, deviant behavior in a group may express a communication that has meaning for the group as a whole. It further was described as a means to deal with difficult feelings,” and could serve as an important “social role” for others in the group (Shulman, 2011, p.171).”
In my first group session the leader thought me different approaches when working within group. The group leader introduced her, and asks the same of the group members. The topic was based on the experience of our internship experience and what we have learned. Everyone introduce him or herselfand spoke about their experience. The focus was based on one group member involving “deviant behavior the form of communication affecting the group as a whole (Shulman, 2011, p.171).”
The leader had to interject to involve other group members by asking them of ways the deviant members experience could have been improved.The group member was the last person to speak about her experience, which involved negative feed back from her internship supervisor. The deviant member took over the session by talking about her undesirable experience, and her “behavior deviated from the general norm (Shulman, 2011, p.171).”
The supervisor told her she did not have any experience, was not good at what she was doing, and was told by the person teaching her that she found it difficult to teach her because she was not a quick learner. The group member went on to explain how she felt humiliated and cried because of the treatment she received. She went on to express her disappointment in the schools placement, curriculum, and felt she was not going to continue her education. She continued to talk about how she followed up by speaking with the school director about her adverse occurrence, and wanted to be relocated to another internship.
The leader realized other group members were not talking, and interrupted for some feed back by asking if any other group member experienced such negative feed back from their site supervisor. The group member went on to explain she wanted everything to be kept confidential and among the group because she did not want others to know about her experience.The leader expressed by getting other group members to give this group member advice would be away for others to learn from this group member’s experience. I advised her not to feel negative about her experience, but to try and learn from it. I told her thee site supervisor went by what the internship trainer told her not by what she observed or knew.
I expressed school is important, and has come to far to let one negative experience make her want to leave school. Also to remember she had the opportunity to learn in her internship, which she takes with her, and is able to use it when she leaves the internship. Other group members gave similar advice, and encouragement.
The deviantgroup member went from the “extreme versus mild deviance” (Shulman, 2011, p.171), meaning she went from the extreme negative internship to bizarre behavior in the third session I attended with the group. I was absent for the second session not knowing what took place.
In the third session as a leader I took a different approach with the direction I wanted the group to go. The leadership style involves a “direct approach then other types of groups.”The leader is responsible for the goal-center productive activities of the group (Toseland & Rivas, 2005). The leadership style focuses on individual “change-oriented and problem solving according to members’ needs which involve the assistance, facilitating problem solving and social, emotional, and/or cognitive-behavioral change, (Gitterman & Salmon, 2009, p.304).”
The reason for the leadership approach was based on my experience in my second session as a group member, wherein I did not feel every group member had an opportunity to address the group with their positive or negative experience regarding their internship. The group members had the opportunity to provide a brief comment relating to their experience. The leader allowed for one group member to take over the group session.
The topic in third session was who or what did we believe in to help the group members get through their master in social work? The first group member explain how she was grateful to “be here” because she had cancer and was given two to three months to live so she give thanks to god for helping her through. She explained her family was supportive as well, and she had another group member’s prayers and support to get her through. The leader would in act with a direct approach by asking members if they had any questions while the group member was giving her explanation to get other members involved.
The second group member expressed that god or a higher beaning helped her through because she was a crack head living in the street but has come as far as reaching her master in social work by having something or someone to believe in. As the leader inter acting directly while the group member spoke, I address the group members to ask questions about her emotional state while going through her experience.
The third member of the group was brief but said her family, friends, church members and god have brought her through. The last member of the group said she did not have a religious belief, did not go to church but did believe in god but would not say that is what got her through. She did not have any religious believe to say got her through but she stated she felt the group members were focusing on religious beliefs. The group member became silent, and started to speak of her family and family vacations. The group member got emotional because she could not afford family vacations and hoped her children would be grateful to go to Walt Disney for one day. The other group members took a different approach from the original topic to support the members concerns. The leader found this to be bazaar behavior but realized it might be the group members coping skill, because she felt everyone was focusing on their religious beliefs.
The leader felt the group member was a manipulator because once again the focus went from the topic to her and not the group as a whole. The group members tried to speak to her about cognitive behavioral changes she may want to make or not be emotionally down because she could not provide a week of vacation for her children. The leader facilitated the group by asking if they had any ideas that could help this group memberwith problem solving?
As a member of the last group session I decided to observe the group to learn what other methods or techniques could be used to improve the communication and involvement of the group members. The group preparation would benefit by using Mutual Aid Practice and Composition. Mutual Aid Practice for short-term groups like our group was described as “beginning with as specifically predetermined purpose” (Steinberg, 2004, p. 209).
The benefit was having the topic of discussion for the group members. Working with Mutual Aid Practice helps with “support and stabilization in times of crisis” which helped me speak about my son cutting in one of the group sessions. MAP could have also been beneficial when we spoke about our internship experiences.
Composition could have facilitated the group by providing an opportunity toohelp group members who are not “highly skilled in communicating or interacting” (Steinberg, 2004, p. 61). The group had a few sessions so every member got to know each other quite well and some members did appear to have interacting problems at a session or two. So the benefit is having the ability to hear others expressions and experience, and have the opportunity to learn how to communicate by interacting with the other group members. Another positive point about the use of Composition the group member knows they are not in a judgmental enviornment, feel comfortable, accepted, which helps the group members self confidence and self-esteem.