ABSTRACT
When I think of my experiences of group work with drug users, I am struck by the fact that it is not the group per se which is contained in my memory. I remember individuals whom I associate with other individuals who were in treatment at the same time. I often have reservations about the conception of a group: it has been described as a faceless entity, a mass or a crowd that inspires fear. I think the conception of a group is numb unless we keep in mind that it is a living and breathing affiliation of people. However, reservations aside, I shall continue to use the term ‘group’ in this chapter with the proviso that I mean it to refer to something that has a human interactional quality.
