Abstract
This paper explores the remarkable similarities in the themesof the strengths perspective and social work practice with groups, and theways in which mutual aid groups support the development of resiliency fac-tors in their members. In addition to a discussion on a theoretical level, wepresent examples from mutual aid groups for children whose parents abusedrugs or alcohol.The data are drawn from the process recordings of eight groups conductedin grammar schools and the videotape of one group conducted in a com-munity-based mental health clinic. All group members were children fromlow-income urban communities. The school-based groups included AfricanAmerican and Hispanic boys and girls ages 8 to 10. Each school group had asingle adult leader: six of the leaders were white women, one an AfricanAmerican woman, and one a Hispanic man. The mental health clinic groupwas composed of 5 African American boys ages 8 to 10, and had two adult co-leaders, an African American woman and a white man.