To understand children and their behavior, an individual has to understand the duration of their groups, the exact stage the groups have reached, and the development that each child has achieved. Many theories have been developed concerning groups within children (Fatout 45). For instance, it has been noted that children want to come up with their groups’ rules. More often, the rules are realistic and more rigid than they are able to follow.
It is acknowledged that children, owing to their level of psychosocial development, possibly will attain the same level of inclusion as adults, which is expected to influence the depth of their afterward stages of group development. When offering psychotherapy and school counseling services to children’s groups, certain values should be observed. The worth and dignity of all the children should be of concern, and the opportunity should exist for all children to exploit their full potential (Fatout 57).
Teenagers perceive groups as a vital tool for adolescent identity development. As such, groups influence their personal principles, actions, and expectations. Groups within adolescence are usually distinguished by their own provisional identity. Individuals in these crowds generally identify themselves with the groups they associate themselves with. Equally, groups expose individuals to diverse norms. The norms promote teenagers to interrelate with other individuals.
Norms also determine how group members relate. For instance, high-status groups regularly relate to many individuals. Notably, these relations are phony and influential. As such, interpersonal associations are used to create and sustain a social status. On the contrary, lower caste groups usually have fewer associates. Through these groups, teenagers interact with those they deem appropriate and avoid those they deem inappropriate.
Just like among children and adolescence, groups do exist among adults. The use of groups among adults has been utilized for a very long time in psychotherapy and adult education programs (Stein 34). By utilizing developmentally appropriate structured activities, adult groups are often capable of expressing their individual thoughts and interpersonal responses to their age mates. Similarly, adult groups would seek and accept more advice from their group members than they would do from children or adolescence groups (Rogers and Horrocks 56).
Working with children, adolescents, and adults’ groups offer an effective way of offering different services such as psychotherapy and school counseling (Geldard and Geldard 67). School counseling can be implemented effectively among children and adolescence groups because they allow the participants to establish bonds among themselves in a prearranged environment that allows them to talk about thoughts and dreams openly with a decreased risk of unsuitable negative interactions (Geldard and Geldard 70).
Equally, school counseling among groups is effective because it enables participants to discuss their individual dissimilarities, which often obstruct relations among them in amorphous interactions (Brown and Robert 12). Groups enable psychotherapists and school counselors to encourage their clients because their issues are not exclusive to them, and the same issues can affect everyone. Through this, they are encouraged to discuss their problems and appreciate the fact that others share their challenges, aspirations, and uncertainties.
Like in the case of children and adolescence groups, they are working with adult groups enables psychotherapists and counselors to offer their services more effectively (Brown and Lent 22). During any adult programs, group work makes it possible for therapists to serve individuals in surroundings usually depicted by the high client to therapist ratios and partial time to engage the participants.
Works Cited
Brown, Steven D., and Robert W. Lent. Handbook of counseling psychology. 4th ed. 2008. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley. Print.
Fatout, Marian. Children in groups a social work perspective. Westport, Conn.: Auburn House, 2006. Print.
Geldard, Kathryn, and David Geldard. Working with children in groups: a handbook for counsellors, educators and community workers. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. Print.
Rogers, Alan, and Naomi Horrocks. Teaching adults. 4th ed. 2010. Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Print.
Stein, Paula E. Enhancing cognitive fitness in adults a guide to the use and development of community-based programs. New York: Springer, 2011. Print.