An experimental introduction of group process support in social services

This paper reports the results of initial trials of a group process support system (GPSS) to aid the training of Norwegian social services personnel in the use of a standardised framework known as Gerix, which is used for the assessment of social services clients. As well as providing the GPSS technology, a degree of structure was introduced to the groups involving feedback, debate, and re-assessment of each client on a number of variables. The availability of initial assessments and re-assessments following discussion has enabled some analysis of the GPSS process, including an analysis of the ranges of assessments and re-assessments, and the influence of the dominant opinion on the assessment of other members. The empirical analyses described in the paper, and the evaluative reports of the consultant charged with implementing training for the Gerix framework, both encourage the approach to group process support described in this paper. Following the trials reported in this paper, the GPSS has been adopted for routine training of social services personnel in the Gerix framework across Norway, and has also been adopted for similar training of social services personnel in Denmark, resulting in over 50 training sessions using the GPSS.