Support groups as open systems: a model for practice and research.: An article from: Health and Social Work

This digital document is an article from Health and Social Work, published by National Association of Social Workers on August 1, 1993. The length of the article is 7396 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: Despite the increasing use of support groups to respond to the needs of people dealing with crises, life transitions, and chronic conditions, there is no conceptual framework to guide practice and research. On the basis of a review of the literature, this article distinguishes support groups from self-help and treatment groups. It then proposes an open systems model for understanding the factors that affect support groups, for guiding interventions, and for evaluating their outcomes. Four conceptual dimensions are described: (1) environmental conditions (resources and constraints), (2) participant group characteristics (size, composition, and technology), (3) group conditions (goals, structural form, and development), and (4) outcomes (positive and negative effects for members, leaders, and organizations; group problems; and ethical and legal issues). Findings from a pilot study of support group practice based on this framework are presented and discussed.

Citation Details
Title: Support groups as open systems: a model for practice and research.
Author: Janice H. Schopler
Publication:Health and Social Work (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 1993
Publisher: National Association of Social Workers
Volume: v18 Issue: n3 Page: p195(13)

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