General Description of the Group
Currently, I am interning as an Court Appointed Special Advocate for minors who are in the foster care system in a predominantly black community. The group of my interest is the population of black children who are in foster care. The primary aim is to improve the quality of their lives and solve the issues of mental suffering related to the lack of support for such children.
Desired Outcomes and Global Values
The children understand the world through the prism of relationships with adults. If the relationship between an adult and a child is unstable, torn, or threatening, then peace in which the children are identified is perceived as threatening. Freud believed that the helplessness and dependence of the child cause children’s sense of danger and need to be loved, which a child carries through their whole life (Trauma & children in foster care, 2019). The trauma of orphanhood is a child’s traumatic experiences caused by explicit or latent orphanhood, which he perceives as a threat to his life when his internal psychological resources could not cope and could not process what he was forced to face (). Therefore, one of the essential global values that should be highlighted is the need to psychologically support children in foster care.
One of the outcomes for the group is providing the minors in foster with the opportunity to be customarily socialized. The family is the most important factor in the socialization and development of the child. The child receives the first experience of social interaction, discovers the world of human relations, and becomes the subject of self-education. At the same time, the family can be a factor that negatively affects the process of a child’s personal development. Intra-family conflicts, low material status of the family, negative attitude of parents to the upbringing of children, violence, and cruelty are psycho-traumatic factors in the development of children.
The desired group outcome is implementing practical psychological support for minors in foster care. It is essential to understand that this category of children needs psychological help and correction. The infusing of values and striving for outcomes can be achieved through the more concise training of social workers. The professionals’ support of the families and children in foster care can significantly alleviate the traumas-related consequences for the discussed group.
Challenges and Solutions
The significant challenges that can occur in achieving the general increase in the level of psychological help and therapy for minors in foster care relate to psychological traumas. The consequences of crisis situations in an adopted child’s life are reflected later in their adult life. Another challenge that significantly impacts achieving the desired outcomes is the shortage and turnover of social workers. These two problems are directly connected and should be solved complexly. Without the social workers’ professional knowledge, providing psychological therapies for minors in foster care is impossible.
In order to overcome such challenges, the two-sided approach should be implemented. Moreover, on the step of problem-solving, the other community occurs with which the leader should work. First, the problem of the lack of social workers should be solved. In the department, group meetings can be held to discuss the issue of turnover with the everyday staff. The facilitation techniques, which allow directing the discussion in the right direction, can be applied to understand the perception of the situation by the employees (D’Eon & Zhao, 2022). Particular actions should be taken related to human resource management inquiries. Identifying the critical issues of turnover from the perspective of social workers can help find the planning strategy for preventing such a lack of professionals in this sphere.
The second problem can be solved by applying the practices of the therapeutic factors for change in the minds of the minors in foster care. The two most vital strategies are the installation of hope and catharsis (Therapeutic factors in groups, 2020). Through the efficient help of the facilitator techniques, the two traumatic personalities can share the traumatic experience, encouraging each other. By expressing emotions to social workers or each other, minors should be guided to understand that through the difficulties, they can develop their personalities. The social workers should utilize such a complex understanding and adapt for the minors to understand such experiences emotionally.
Growth as a Group Leader
The experience of analyzing the possible group outcomes focused on empowering individuals and teams to create a more vibrant life for a particular population helped me find a suitable leadership approach. Through working in two directions, the minors and staff, I realized that the transformational leadership approach is the most effective. Moreover, the major mistake that can be highlighted is the lack of a complex approach to planning and problem-solving. The comprehensive work not only with the minors but also with social workers who, in the future, can provide support for the children in foster care is practical. The appliance of the theoretical data related to the traumatic experiences of the minors was vital in directing the communication and infusing the values.
References
D’Eon, M., & Zhao, R. (2022). Five ways for facilitators to get a grip on small group learning. Canadian Medical Education Journal, 13(2), 82–88. Web.
Therapeutic factors in groups. (2020). Mitch Medical Healthcare. Web.
Trauma & children in foster care: A comprehensive overview. (2019). CSP. Web.