ABSTRACT
This chapter describes what takes place before the first meeting of a group. Planning and preparation for a group includes three stages. Firstly, the groupworker must be satisfied that a need or problem exists and is shared by a number of people for whom some common aim can be identified. Secondly, the organisational and environmental context of the group must be assessed to see whether there is sufficient support to make the group worth attempting. Thirdly, the actual process of creating the group will be undertaken, if the indications from the previous stages are positive. All potential workers and members of a social work group are also members of other groups and alliances in their own social settings. Groups are also affected by the physical environment in which meetings and activities take place. The reality of life in most social work agencies means that group composition is often influenced by factors beyond the individual social worker's control.
