TOP TIP - University of Brighton Repository

5
Individual, group
and mixed approaches
‘I STILL GET THE SENSE THAT THERE IS A NOTION THAT THE
FIRST STEP TO ENGAGING YOUNG DADS IS "TO SET UP A
GROUP". THIS ASSUMPTION NEEDS TO BE CHALLENGED.’
(Lowe, 2006)
KEY QUESTIONS
Some projects and agencies
providing services for young
fathers have been criticised for
becoming too fixated on working in
groups. Group work can be extremely
valuable and have many advantages in
delivering services for young fathers.
However, it is not universally
appealing and can exclude and alienate
some young men. Rather than being
used as a matter of course, the
potential benefits of group work need
to considered and weighed carefully
against potential pitfalls and
alternative one-to-one or mixed model
approaches.
Working with five project sites around
England, TSA’s Young Fathers Project
(Mordaunt, 2005) generated in-depth
understandings of group work in order
to help young fathers projects to plan
when group work would be valuable,
and when it should be avoided. The
research elicited a number of
important learning points (see In
Focus, next page).
PROMISING PRACTICE
• Which mode of delivery
(individual, group, or mixed)
will best suit your client
group?
• What training needs does this
choice of delivery present for
workers?
• What barriers may prevent the
successful use of group work
(e.g. time, space, venue, aims
of the group etc.)? How will
you overcome these?
• What are the financial
implications for delivering
young fathers support through
one-to-one, group, or mixed
approaches?
Supporting Young Fathers 33