Reviving Group Work in Jewish Community Centers

Publication Date: June 1997

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Martin L. Birnbaum; Bessie Pine

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Professionalism; Jewish Organizations; Informal Jewish Education

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Until the 1960s the Jewish Community Centers were seen as the embodiment of good group work practice, but changes within the field and within group work practice and education contributed to a decline of the saliency of group work within Centers. This article describes a project designed to revitalize group work within Centers by facilitating a collaboration between a school of social work and Centers, raising awareness of the importance of group work skills among Center professionals, and establishing a curriculum and methodology for training such professionals in group work.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, v.73 no.4, Summer 1997.