My Vision for The Journal for Specialists in Group Work

 

 

 

Donald E. Ward, Ph.D., Editor

Pittsburg State University, Kansas

 

(This article appeared in the March 2002 issue of JSGW).

 

 

 

Moving Forward

 

Kevin Geoffrey, Bob Conyne, Barbara Fuhrmann, Sam Gladding, Andy Horne, Janice DeLucia-Waack, and Don Ward; the realization that my name follows those of the previous outstanding editors of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work is difficult to assimilate. However, I am eager to work to maintain and expand upon the standard of excellence these dedicated individuals and the many authors have established. Our journal is now established as a high quality outlet for information relating to the theory, research, and practice of professional group work. It also is known for articles that deal with emerging issues and that cross disciplinary boundaries in regard to various types of group work in a variety of contexts.

            I will not use additional space to describe my personal and group work background, since I shared that information in the editorial I wrote as the new associate editor in the March 2000 issue (Ward, 2000). I do, however, want to introduce two people who are already significant contributors to the journal. Dr. Maria Riva of the University of Denver has been named the new Associate Editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work, and she will be serving as the Action Editor for approximately one-third to one-fourth of the manuscripts that are submitted for review. Her extensive experience with group work and research design, as well as her service on the editorial board and as a guest editor of a special issue will particularly useful. In addition, Michele Litchy, my advisee in the Master's in Community Counseling degree program here at Pittsburg State, has been appointed as the Editorial Assistant for the journal. Michele is already very loyal and dedicated, and her efforts with the tremendous amount of clerical work associated with the editorial process are very helpful.

            As far as editorial policy for the journal is concerned, I do hope to maintain the policy as refined by Janice DeLucia-Waack. For information about submitting manuscripts, format and style, serving on the editorial board, and topics and types of manuscripts appropriate for submission, please visit the Journal for Specialists in Group Work web page by going to the ASGW web site at http://asgw.educ.kent.edu and clicking on "The Journal" link. We plan to continue to use a developmental model in our work with authors; i.e., we view the editorial process as a feedback and co-constructive activity in which the editorial responsibility is to work with authors to strengthen the message they wish to deliver. Consistent with this policy, although authors may deal with a variety of topics, manuscripts must include a major focus on group work itself, and group process must receive attention. They must also speak directly to ASGW members and other readers of the journal, many of whom are group work practitioners. This is particularly the case when topics related to the training of group workers, types of group work, best practices, and diversity are addressed. Since ASGW has published standards for group workers in each of these areas, available on-line at the web site, the ASGW Standards should be cited whenever these subjects are addressed. For all types of manuscripts, implications for practice should be addressed, even if practice is not the main topic of the manuscript. If the manuscript describes a protocol or a description of a method for conducting a specific type of group, the author should have conducted this type of group and should include sample description and dialogue to illuminate the process. Whenever possible, the results of the evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed methods should be included.

            We continue to accept manuscripts for consideration in hard copy or as electronic files in email attachments. In either case, they should follow JSGW and APA style and format guidelines, including one-inch margins all around, everything double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, and IBM compatible Microsoft Word format. Generally, 30 pages of manuscript with up to 2 pages of References is a maximum, unless there are special circumstances. Both our journal and our publisher, Sage, now require style described in the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2001), so please make certain that manuscripts conform to the fifth edition style. The most important changes are to the use of the italics, bold, and underlining key functions, rather than using underlining to represent italics and bold print, and the use of hanging indents in the References section. I hope that this statement helps those of you considering submission of a manuscript.

            To give you an idea of the timeline for the publication process, I am writing this editorial for this first issue of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work for which I serve as editor on the day after the tragic events in New York city and Washington, D.C. Like most reasonable people, I am horrified and still trying to assimilate the information. I also am attempting to maintain a semblance of stability by continuing with my everyday work. However, these events cannot be ignored, and there are implications for every aspect of our lives. I am pleased that the Association for Specialists in Group Work and the Journal for Specialists in Group Work have always advocated working toward peaceful methods of interaction among people in groups and among groups and cultures. The excellent work by ASGW members in recent years to develop “Principles for Diversity-Competent Group Workers” (ASGW,1998) is a seminal work with great potential to contribute to healing the wounds and resolving the differences reflected in the events of September 11. Four articles in the September 2000 issue of the journal were included in a special section on “International Group Work,” and the article by Shakoor and Fister (2000) focused upon working in another culture, Bosnia, torn by cultural strife, warfare, and terrorism. More recently in the June 2001 issue, Chen and Han (2001) and Rose (2001) reflect cross-cultural group work. Lev-Wiesel’s article in this issue (2002), “A Model for Promoting Community Cohesion in Response to Conflict,” is also especially relevant to the September 11, 2001 events and their repercussions.

            We must build and improve upon these and other efforts in order to make a meaningful contribution in the future. I invite you to join me as a realist in the present, but a dogged optimist about the future, in redoubling our efforts to develop and use the tremendous potential of group work to improve individual lives and relationships and to bring groups and cultures together in peaceful and meaningful interactions with their diversities.

References

 

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

            Ward, D. E. (2000). Introductions: A new associate editor and psychoeducational groups mini special issue. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 25, 3-6.