Records Of Group Work Practice In India (An Old And Rare Book)

In the field of education for social work in India, the teachers of social work methods, have long felt a need for records of social work practice in Indian setting. We need a large and varied collection of records: which would illustrate the practice of social work in different settings which would give the students an opportunity to gain more awareness of the cultural and social factors, as well as give illustrations of social work practice in their country. It was felt that the use of this kind of recorded material in class would help the students in the integration of theory and practice.

It is hoped that this work will make a small contribution to this need, and will prove useful in the teaching of social group work. It includes records of group work practice in different types of social welfare agencies; community welfare-centres urban as well as rural, correctional institutions, institutions for the care of handicapped children, and hospitals. The records have been selected from the field work practice of the students, of the Faculty of Social Work. There is considerable variation in skill and method of handling Records selected do not show only positive handling by worker, but have been chosen for their suitability for teaching. Identifying material has been disguised.

There is at times tendency to equate social group work with "fun and games" and to miss the social work content. Attempt has been made here to emphasis the social work focus and each record contains material both the setting as well as the helping method used by the worker. Teaching notes have been added at the end, which suggest some areas for discussion in class. These are only suggestive and are by no means exhaustive, as each teacher would wish to use the records differently in relation to the level of experience of the students.

I am grateful to many persons for their assistance in the preparation of this work: to all my colleagues at the Faculty of Social Work who have helped me in collecting this material; to the students whose beginning skill and real desire to help people can be seen so clearly in the recorded material. I would especially like to acknowledge the help given by my colleague at the Faculty, Mr. S. R. Yardi who discussed the records with me and undertook the task of proof-reading. As a social worker I express my indebtedness to the many persons who as clients of social welfare agencies shared their problems with us and worked with us in the task of achieving a happier society.

PERVIZ MARKAND BHATT.