Social group work: building a professional collective of hospital social workers

Deconstruction of traditional social work departments can isolate social workers from their primary source of professional affiliation, leaving them without the support to take stands on controversial patient care issues. This paper describes an alternative: the building of a powerful social work collective based on social group work theory that potentiates professional practice while transcending management forms. The model includes group supervision, but moves beyond it to utilize the social work group as a central organizing principle. At the heart of the collective are the elements of professional accountability, support, autonomy, and collaborative decision- making within democratic peer group structures. The authors highlight current management theory, distinctions that create an authentic social work value-based practice, and outcomes for social workers, their clients, and colleagues.