José Manuel Díaz González (Universidad de La Laguna)
(Spain)
Co-author:
Elvira Juana Hernández Martín (Servicio Integral de Atención a las Personas Sin hogar de Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Jesús Mejías Expósito (Servicio Integral de Atención a las Personas Sin Hogar de Santa Cruz de Tenerife), Paulo Adrián Rodríguez Ramos (Universidad de La Laguna, España), Laura Aguilera Ávila (Universidad de La Laguna, España).
Topic: Methodology of group intervention with homeless women: “The yard of my house”
Language: English
Abstract
Introduction. Homeless women experience a difficult reality, they are exposed to different forms of discrimination and violence, they experience processes of loneliness and isolation, and they do not always receive attention tailored to their needs. This phenomenon is influenced by multiple factors that cause the processes of social intervention and integration to be more complex and that women cannot exercise their fundamental rights. Group intervention is an appropriate social work method to address processes related to homelessness in women and has a multitude of applications such as promoting interaction between members and socialization, establishing mutual aid relationships, improving social skills, personal skills and coping with personal, group and community problems.
Objective. Delimit the essential elements of the group intervention methodology from the social work that is carried out with homeless women from a comprehensive care service in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Methodology. Systematization of professional practice based on a theoretical review and analysis of the results of the intervention carried out over the last two years with a group of more than 30 homeless women.
Results. There is a method of group intervention that has proven to be effective in empowering homeless women, promoting their personal development and active participation in society, and optimizing their social functioning through constructivist group experiences.
Discussion. This group intervention methodology is innovative, highly effective and one of the limited group intervention experiences that exist of this type. It is a transversal proposal that can be adequately applied with other homeless women and other vulnerable groups in a situation of social exclusion to achieve these objectives.