Announcements

Registration now open for  the 2019 IASWG NYC Symposium. Early bird rates end in May.

NEW! Tips for Facilitating For Empowerment in Groupwork Practice

We congratulate the chapter of IASWG based in Germany on the celebration of its 25^th Anniversary. 

TRGN Chapter Event (April 12): Manuals and Group Work - How to Be Creative

NEO Chapter Event (May 3): Motivational Interviewing for Group Therapy and New Ethical Dilemmas in the Digital Age

​Maria Rosenbloom Memorial Lecture​ ​(May 7 at the ​​Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College) Repair the World - Memory and Hope in Jewish Refugee Camps: Lessons for Social Work Today, featuring Lorrie Greenhouse Gardella

Reflection from Social Work Day at the United Nations

Call for 2018 SA Symposium Proceeding Papers - The Local Planning Committee of the IASWG Symposia in Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa (2018) cordially invites all presenters at the Symposia to submit a paper for the symposium proceedings (Deadline July 2019).

Making Waves: Group Work Stories of Social Justice - The Social Work with Groups journal is inviting narrative essays of 5 to 9 manuscript pages, about group work practice that facilitates social justice worldwide. Learn more. 

Do you want to play a part in developing a new model of group work practice? You’re invited to be part of a research project by researchers at the University of Calgary. The purpose of this project is to discover how group work practitioners can utilize diversity to promote group development. Learn more.

TIP! Le groupe d’une seule rencontre en travail social de groupe

THE TIME FOR GROUP WORK

The climate is changing. In many parts of the world, respect for people who are different from ourselves has diminished and communities feel fractured. Dialogue is too often replaced by bombings and vitriol; hate-filled populism blasts reasoned, respectful understanding. It is not difficult to see why many people feel alienated; they themselves are disrespected and disempowered by increasing inequality, job insecurity and a sense that the important decisions are no longer within their influence.

We need to find ways to become inclusive, to celebrate our differences and to generate a powerful sense of togetherness. There has never been a more urgent time to bring communities together towards a mutual understanding and a respect, not just for humanity, but for the planet as a whole. Social groupwork can create security where there is uncertainty, a feeling of belonging where there is alienation, and a vehicle for positive communal action where there is a sense of helplessness. It has been used to unite and give voice to people in the aftermath of conditions that seemed beyond repair. Through social groupwork, nations, communities and individuals can repair.

This is the hopeful message that IASWG and its members offer to the world. IASWG stands against oppression and disenfranchisement. As social groupworkers, we stand for and advocate for creating spaces for respectful dialogue to expand our worldviews and perspectives in community with each other. 

Contact us. Let us know how you are using group work to repair the world. Ask us how we can help you in this process. It’s time for group work.