Group Observations
Lisa Smart
Kim Lane
Group Process
3/8/13
Paper 1
Group Observation
The group I chose to observe was an alcoholics anonymous group. I chose this as the group to observe because it relates to this field of work and also I have family members whom I attend meetings with for support. There are different types of AA groups. The most common two are open meetings, and closed meetings. Open meetings are meetings where speakers tell how they drank, how they discovered AA, and how its program has helped them. Members may bring relatives or friends to open meetings. Closed meetings are for alcoholics only. These are group discussions, and any members who want to may speak up, to ask questions and to share their thoughts with other members. The primary purpose of AA is to stay sober and to help others achieve sobriety.
I attended a few different alcoholics anonymous meetings throughout the month. During the meetings there were on average about anywhere from twenty to forty people to attend. The group was sometimes seated in a circle where each member was able to face each other, and sometimes seated in rows with one speaker in front of the entire group. The meeting sometimes began with a speaker telling their story, and other times group members volunteering to speak about their story or problems that were troubling them. Many members of the group were fairly young, with few people who were approximately above the age of thirty five, and a slim amount of people around the age of fifty to sixty. The majority of members in the group were male; however there were a fair amount of females as well. In the groups that I attended there happened to be mainly white people, on occasion there were one or two African Americans that attended. What I gathered from the meetings was that the group provides relationship and love for the members. The members are supportive of each other. Many of those who spoke up talked about the importance of fellowship, and friendships that they
Kim Lane
Group Process
3/8/13
Paper 1
Group Observation
The group I chose to observe was an alcoholics anonymous group. I chose this as the group to observe because it relates to this field of work and also I have family members whom I attend meetings with for support. There are different types of AA groups. The most common two are open meetings, and closed meetings. Open meetings are meetings where speakers tell how they drank, how they discovered AA, and how its program has helped them. Members may bring relatives or friends to open meetings. Closed meetings are for alcoholics only. These are group discussions, and any members who want to may speak up, to ask questions and to share their thoughts with other members. The primary purpose of AA is to stay sober and to help others achieve sobriety.
I attended a few different alcoholics anonymous meetings throughout the month. During the meetings there were on average about anywhere from twenty to forty people to attend. The group was sometimes seated in a circle where each member was able to face each other, and sometimes seated in rows with one speaker in front of the entire group. The meeting sometimes began with a speaker telling their story, and other times group members volunteering to speak about their story or problems that were troubling them. Many members of the group were fairly young, with few people who were approximately above the age of thirty five, and a slim amount of people around the age of fifty to sixty. The majority of members in the group were male; however there were a fair amount of females as well. In the groups that I attended there happened to be mainly white people, on occasion there were one or two African Americans that attended. What I gathered from the meetings was that the group provides relationship and love for the members. The members are supportive of each other. Many of those who spoke up talked about the importance of fellowship, and friendships that they