Social Group Work in India

Group work as a method of social work came to India with

the introduction of professional social work education in

1936, a decade after it was acknowledged as formal method

of practice in the West. Even though there is evidence of

the group approach being used in various contexts – in

delivering charity services, imparting religious education

through oral tradition, in mobilising people for the freedom

struggle against the British, in social reform strategies as in

the Sarvodaya and Bhoodanmovements. However, there is

very little documentation or hardly any theorisation based

on it.

All the schools of social work in India teach a course/paper

in social group work (alternatively titled as “social work

with groups”) at both the graduate and the postgraduate

levels. There was a brave attempt to develop some

indigenous materials in group work by the then United

Nations Social Welfare and Development Centre for Asia

and the Pacific and the Association of Schools of Social

Work in 1979. Compared to casework and community

organisation, contributions in developing indigenous

materials on group work could be traced back to the 1960s.

The Association of Schools of Social Work jointly with the

Technical Cooperative Mission (USA) laid down minimum

standards for group work practice acted a benchmark to

the developments in India. VD. Mehta (1987) and Helen

Joseph (1997), two social workers who attempted to trace

the historical development of group work in India, agree

that the theoretical perspective taught in the schools of

social work in India and the practice models are primarily

American as in the case of social work itself.

The practice of social group work in India is generally limited

to correctional and other residential institutional setting,

hospitals and so on in the urban areas. The general activities

undertaken were recreational, educational and cultural in

character. Group work method was also practiced in

community work, as in the case of mahila mandals and

yuvak mandals, but it was primarily recognised as

community work. Practice of group work is also given

emphasis through the fieldwork programme in some

schools. Students placed in agencies and open communities

work with groups of children, youth, adults and elderly who

are either ‘sick’ or healthy in urban and rural areas. For

instance, the student of social work in Kerala placed in

open communities are engaged in organising groups for

children (balasamithis) and also for adult women

(kudumbashree self-help groups) in the disadvantaged

neighbourhoods. Such groups have a combined objective of

socialisation, structured recreation, functional literacy,

awareness generation on diverse issues such as effective

parenting, health and hygiene, environment and local selfgovernance

as well as other socially relevant issues. In

the recent years, groups of adolescent girls and boys too

have been organised in the villages to deal with issues

pertaining to life skill development including home

management, reproductive and sexual health, sexuality,

family planning methods, etc., considering the social reality

that majority of them will be getting married at an early age.

This brief review of historical trends in group work practice

is intended to enable you to understand current trends in

group work practice from a broad perspective. At present,

a remedial approach focusing on improving the functioning

of individual group member continues as the preferred

method of practice. This model of practice is based on

problem identification, assessment, and treatment. The

emphasis on mutual aid characteristics of group work

also continues, where the worker’s role is to mediate

between the needs of group members and society. Mutual

aid and shared, reciprocal responsibility are appropriate in

such settings such as short-stay homes and nari niketans

that are designed to helping women in distress to live

together, to support each other and to cope with distressing

life events. It is also useful in community groups like mahila

mandals, youth clubs and other community groups where

reciprocal sharing of mutual concerns and the giving and

receiving of support are central purposes. Professional

social workers are also involved as consultants or

facilitators of self-help groups that emphasise the mutual

aid characteristics of a group.