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Enhancing Social Justice and Diversity in Group Work

Discover the importance of diversity and social justice in group work and learn strategies to enhance inclusivity. Explore challenges in culturally diverse groups and the stages of social justice. Develop leadership skills and increase cultural competence to work with different cultural populations.

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Enhancing Social Justice and Diversity in Group Work

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  1. Chapter 8 Diversity and Social Justice in Group Work Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

  2. Roadmap • Diversity • Social Justice • Stages of Social Justice • Enhancing Social Justice in Groups • Challenges of Culturally Diverse Groups • Types of Diversity-Related Groups • Myths about Multicultural Groups • Goals of Diverse and Multicultural Groups • Leadership in Culturally Diverse Groups • Increasing Cultural Competence • Working with Different Cultural Populations

  3. Diversity • Diversity • Associated with race, ethnicity, language, culture, gender, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, religion, ableism, and disability (Diller, 2014) • Relates to people who differ widely in regard to their lifestyles and worldviews and where differences in communication styles, messages affect the way in which groups are set up and conducted (Conyne et al., 2000; Shechtman & Perl-Dekel, 2000)

  4. Social Justice • Similar to diversity in its examination of differences among people • Emphasizes “fair and equitable distribution of power, resources, and obligations in society of all people” regardless of their background (Hage et al., 2010, p. 103). • In group work, social justice emphasizes “empowerment, self-determination, advocacy, and change” (Singh & Salazar, 2010, p. 97).

  5. Stages of Social Justice • Stage 1: Naivety • Stage 2: Multicultural Integration • Stage 3: Liberatory Critical Consciousness • Stage 4: Empowerment • Stage 5: Social Justice Advocacy (Ratts et al., 2010)

  6. Enhancing Social Justice in Groups • “Be intentional about having diversity of group membership and avoid representation/token members of a marginalized community” • “Use structured activities to talk about issues of privilege and oppression” • “Facilitate consciousness raising and create awareness of social justice in group members by processing issues of oppression in the moment” (Burnes & Ross, 2010, p. 171-175)

  7. Challenges of Culturally Diverse Groups • Group leaders must understand the subjective and objective experience of group members (Tate et al., 2013) • Understand what culture is • Modify and apply group theory and techniques in ways that are culturally congruent (DeLucia-Waack, 1996, p. 218) • Develop group theory and techniques that “acknowledge, explore, and use group member differences to facilitate change and growth” (DeLucia-Waack, 1996, p. 218)

  8. Types of Diversity-Related Groups • Culture-Specific Groups • Interpersonal Learning Groups • Other-Content-Focused Groups (Merchant, 2009)

  9. Myths about Multicultural Groups • Discussion of racial or cultural differences is offensive to group members and is best never mentioned. • Groups can be homogenous so focusing on diversity is not needed. • Group member differences do not matter and seldom, if ever, affect the process and outcome of task and psychoeducational groups. • Group work theories are appropriate for all clients all the time.

  10. Goals of Diverse and Multicultural Groups Goals often fall into the following categories: • Remediation • Prevention • Task orientation • Intra- and Interpersonal Processes

  11. Goals of Diverse and Multicultural Groups Three common goals: • To understand the situation that brought the person to the group from a cultural perspective • “To approach all events and behavior in the group from a functional perspective” • “To help members make sense of “new behaviors, beliefs, and skills within a cultural context” (DeLucia-Waack, 1996, p. 171)

  12. Leadership in Culturally Diverse Groups • Cultural Awareness • Consciousness regarding issues of culture that influence group members’ backgrounds • Comfort with one’s own identity • Ability to empathize with culturally different group members

  13. Increasing Cultural Competence • Consult with minority counselors about working with groups they may already be serving • Become immersed in culturally enriching and sensitive traditions • Take note of needs and issues of minority groups • Take language lessons and pronunciation training (Johnson et al., 1995)

  14. Increasing Cultural Competence • Examine your family as a place where you learned about culture and relationships with others (Ivey et al., 2014) • Engage in didactic and experiential education

  15. Working with Different Cultural Populations • 2014 US Census Bureau Data on Race/ethnicity: • African American: 12% • Native American: 1% • Asian American: 5.6% • Hispanic: 14% • European American: 65% • Two or more races: 2%

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