Social Group Work: A Survey of Knowledge About and Attitudes Toward Social Group Work as Found Among the Staff Members in the Family Service Department, Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York, 1964
Abstract
Background and timeliness of study. Today, as always, man is a member of a group. His first contact with the world is in the primary group, his family. The primary group possesses certain elements such as continuity, organization, structure, frequent face-to-face associations, common language, customs, norms, traditions and a unique esprit de corps which makes it significant and meaningful for man's physical, emotional and social growth. As a child grows older he gradually moves away from his family. First, in the play group, then in other groups he finds appropriate, and so the process of emancipation from his family and the formation of secondary groups begins. Secondary groups are less emotional, more irrational and not as close or as warm as the primary group. The individual, because of his growth, frequently changes his membership in secondary groups in order to meet his changing needs, but whatever form the group takes, man because of his very existence, is a member of a group throughout his lifetime. Group associations are continually operating and these:associations are valued highly in our culture. It is implicit in the incidence of groups in our society and in the amount of attention that is given to establishing and developing them. High value is placed, in our contemporary American society, on the ability to get along with one's fellow-men, not only with the family group and those with similar interests and experiences, but with those with sharp differences. One of the criteria for judging individual development is the degree of social adaptation manifested by individuals. In such areas as education, politics, religion, economics, people participate in gro groups to pursue their interests and to deepen social values.
Subject Area
Individual & family studies|Religion|Social work
Recommended Citation
Zink, Angela Margaret, "Social Group Work: A Survey of Knowledge About and Attitudes Toward Social Group Work as Found Among the Staff Members in the Family Service Department, Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York, 1964" (1964). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI31050572.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31050572
