Andrew's on Wikipedia!

Andrew Cicchetti has a new entry on Wikipedia
Andrew has the site Mutual Aid Based Groupwork. You can find the link under social work on the left sidebar of this page.
I cannot begin to tell you here just how invaluable this information can be to the social worker. You must go read for yourself. Andrew's writings have given me an entirely different perspective of just what social work is and what it should be. His entry on Wikipedia is a smooth, easy to read, cohesive compilation of his site. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
"Mutual aid as group work technology can be understood as an exchange of help wherein the group member is both the provider as well as the recipient of help in service of achieving common group and individual goals (Borkman, 1999; Gitterman, 2006; Lieberman, 1983; Northen & Kurland, 2001; Schwartz, 1961; Shulman, 2006, Steinberg, 2004; Toseland & Siporin, 1986). The rationale for cultivating mutual aid in the group encounter is premised on the following beliefs: 1) members have strengths, opinions, perspectives, information, and experiences that can be drawn upon to help others in the group; 2) helping others helps the helper, a concept known as the helper-therapy principle (Reissman, 1965) which has been empirically validated (Roberts et al, 1999); and 3) some types of help, such as confrontation, are better received when emanating from a peer rather than the worker (Shulman, 2006). The use of mutual aid based group work has resonance with the needs of a variety of populations. For example, in substance abuse treatment groups mutual aid has been observed to both strengthen self-esteem and affirm the value of a sober network of peers (Cicchetti, in press).
Please do go check it out when you have the time to read and absorb...it is so worth it! :)