You are invited to join AASWG

Founded in 1979, the Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups, Inc. an International Professional Organization (AASWG), is the premier international association for social workers and allied helping professionals engaged in group work. The purpose of this non-profit, member-driven organization is to promote excellence in group work practice, education, field instruction, research and publication. The goals of this Association are realized through a program of action and advocacy at both the local and international levels.

In addition to the Annual Symposium on Social Work with Groups, now in its 31st year, AASWG is involved in an ongoing program to promote and develop group work practice. The online newsletter and community news blog are utilized to bring members current news and timely information about group work and AASWG. The home page is www.aaswg.org, and an active Internet Discussion Group and other community forums have been established. The Members’ Section of our website provides access to important articles, original content, and teaching resources. The Proceedings, a volume of selected papers from each Symposium, is published each year. In recent years a series of books has been prepared to assist in group work teaching and practice. The two which have been published cooperatively with the Council on Social Work Education are Teaching a Methods Course in Social Work with Groups by Roselle Kurland and Robert Salmon, and Group Work Education in the Field by Julianne Wayne and Carol S. Cohen.  A revised version of the Standards for Social Work Practice with Groups, first published in 1999, was published in 2006 and is available online in English and Spanish. Member discounts are available on major group work journals and books, such as the journals Groupwork and Social Work with Groups, the Encyclopedia of Social Work with Groups, and other publications of Whiting and Birch and Routledge.

The program of AASWG is carried forward by its members. To plan and carry out the work of AASWG, the Board of Directors meets twice each year, once at the time of the Symposium and again in mid-June in New York City. Many committees, chapters, individuals and Symposia planners are busy throughout the year. Members concentrated in fifteen areas in the USA, Canada and Germany have organized chapters with active programs of workshops, communication, and action to develop practice and education. Other areas are in the process of organizing chapters. AASWG’s Commission on Education for Social Work with Groups has been especially active in recent years. Also, of note, the John and Carol Ramey Endowment Fund has been established to provide ongoing support for the position of General Secretary and for the continuing development of AASWG into the twenty-first century.

Active chapters are located in Southern California, Connecticut, Florida, Germany, Illinois, Kentucky, Long Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York City, Northeast Ohio, North Texas and Toronto. Active organizing areas include Ghana, Arizona, British Columbia, Japan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. The India Affiliate Unit operates from the Nagpur, India area. Chapters and other units are self-organized by interested members in an area. Each has its own executive and other committees for workshops, newsletters, professional action, home pages, etc.

Your membership supports our mission and provides you with great groupwork resources on-line and through your local chapter.  We look forward to receiving your membership and joining your colleagues in AASWG.

How to Register
We invite you to join AASWG either on-line or by completing and mailing your membership form along with payment. For your convenience the membership form is available as either an MS Word Document or in PDF format (see attachments below).  

The form and payment should be mailed to:
The Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups
2303 Winfield Street
Rahway, New Jersey 07065-3620

Or:
Submit your registration online

Attachment	Size
Downloadable Membership form in Microsoft Word format	50 KB
Downloadable membership form in PDF format	113.34 KB