Self Help Group Field Notes # 2
The critical assignment for this class involves 2 on site field visits to observe your group of choice. Students will study a group through the use of participant observation. Participant observation is a qualitative method of data collection. Observation methods are useful for providing researchers ways to check for nonverbal expressions as well as verbal expressions and observable behavior. Importantly, participant observation allows the researcher to understand the people being studied in their own environment. For the purpose of this assignment, students must attend at least two meetings of the same self-help group (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Divorce Recovery Group, Bereavement Group, Single Parents Group, etc.). This can be a secular group or a Christian group (such as those that may meet within your church).
Review how to execute participant observation here: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/466/996
In your field notes: identify the type of group you attended, date and location of the group, and what you observed during the group meeting. Detailed notes should be taken during the meeting (please be as unobtrusive as possible when note taking). Notes must be typed, formatted in APA, and roughly 1-2 pages (not including cover or reference pages).
Rubric Detail
Clearly addresses each of the following with detailed descriptions/examples: (1) identify the type of group you attended including location and date of attendance, (2) describe in detail what you observed during your time in the meeting.
*NOTES
For last week’s assignment for the same class, I wrote a similar paper. I did not find any notes requiring to be from a different type of meetings/agencies. Below is what I wrote last week:
Self Help Group Field Notes #1
Since there are still restrictions at many places where there are restrictions of gatherings with multiple people, I was able to attend meetings using zoom. The first meeting I attended was an Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous (AA-NA). The group is consisting of individuals who are addressing their addiction issues with alcohol, methamphetamine, and other illicit drugs. There are a few in the group who are talking about their addiction to prescription narcotic use. Approximately 30 people are attending this meeting through Go To Meeting application.
This particular group has been mandated to attend AA/NA for six months with weekly group participation required. My first observation of the group was that most of them did not want to be there. They were fidgety and easily distracted while doing other things around them while trying to participate. Most were dressed appropriately casual while others had their pajamas on. The instructor had to encourage the attendees to participate during a good portion of the time to obtain a response for participation. It was quite clearly the different levels of addiction the participants have. Some were visible struggling to participate and appeared under the influence. The individuals that were there for addiction to prescription drugs believed that they should not be there as their situation was different than others using illegal drugs. All used for different reasons with the most common among the group being to get away and relieve their stressors in life. They all seemed to come together around this one topic and this was the only thing the group as a whole agreed upon. A little over half of the way through group six participants stated they had to go and signed out. The longer the group went on the shorter the participation was with attendees with a noticeable change in demeanor. Answers became short when prompted with noticeable frustration. Three-quarters of the way five more stated they had to go and signed out. The instructor had a good relationship with attendees and was very patient when soliciting responses and was able to maintain the group and keep most of them focused. There was genuine respect for the instructor and when some would respond borderline inappropriate others in the group would come to her defense. None of the attendees questioned my presence since there are always new people coming into these meetings.
My next meeting was the Womens Anger Management group and parenting classes. This meeting is given through YWCA Riverside. This zoom meeting is intended to address the issues of anger management and parenting. This meeting is intended solely for single women, single mothers, and married mothers. This meeting-program is either mandated participation by the courts and some others take the class to learn about anger management and parenting.
The counselor giving the class asked the participants to talk about themselves. A couple of women mentioned that their attendance in this class was because they thought they are going through domestic violence from their partners. These women seem sad, depress, and others, not interested in participating. There is a small number of participants that believe they do not have an anger issue. Yet, everyone is respectful of each other and everyone respects each others time, comments, and opinions. In this class, compared to the other class I attended, the participants stay for the whole hour of the class. I do not know if they stayed because it is a mandated class or because they truly want to learn to have a healthy relationship with their spouse and children. These women also seem not to have any interest in becoming friends with each other, nor confide their personal life with other participants.
These types of group meetings have their pros and cons. Some of the individuals in both meetings seems to want to learn how to take control and some other ones who did not care about participation. In my opinion, these types of meetings are useful because it helps an individual learn about what triggers to overreact or abuse substances. For privacy purposes, I would not disclose any of the participants names.
