A Decade of Social Group Work Research

Trends in Methodology, Theory, and Program Development

Bibliographic Data

ID12384792
AuthorsRichard M Tolman (0000-0002-7731-189X, University of Illinois Chicago, corresponding author), Christian E Molidor (The University of Texas at Arlington)
Year1994
Volume4
Issue2
Pages142-159
Publication date1994-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch on Social Work Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7315 • E-ISSN: 1552-7581
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/104973159400400202
OpenAlexW1998096642
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited34

This study examines a decade of social work group outcome research. Fifty-four group research studies were identified in nine key social work journals and from Social Work Research and Abstracts. Methodological aspects of the studies were reviewed including theoretical orientation, group format, leadership, design, target problem or area, and measurement. Results of the review indicate that investigations of cognitive-behavioral groups dominate the research literature. Although a wide array of target problems have been studied, children's social skills and behavior problems are the most frequently examined. Among the markers of increasing methodological sophistication of the group research literature were balancing of group leadership across comparison group conditions and the use of multiple measures for determining outcome. Although experimental studies were the most frequent design used, they were outnumbered by the combination of quasi-experimental group compansons and nonexperimen tal designs

Group work · Mathematics education · Outcome (game theory · Political science · Research design · Social science · Sociology · Sophistication · Applied Psychology · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Community Health and Development · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work