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From a social work perspective, individual outcomes are the results of a transactional processbetween personal and environmental influences. It is a long-cherished conviction in SocialWork that individual problems and successes must be framed within the larger context offamily, community and society (Saleebey, 2002c:231). However, it is also a conviction that isoften not reflected in social work practice (Rose, 2000:405; Saleebey, 2002c:230; Weick,2000:398). Clinical practice tends to focus on personal factors, and community practice onenvironmental factors, while the transactional dimension is often not accounted for. Thetendency is also to focus on deficits and problems in these systems and not on strengths orpotential strengths.

In hierdie artikel word gefokus op ’n maatskaplike groepwerk-bemagtigingsprogram, ooreenkomstig’n sterkteperspektief, wat ontwikkel en aangebied is vir alkoholafhanklike bejaardesverbonde aan ’n geregistreerde behandelingsentrum. Die voorgenoemde program is deur dienavorsers ontwikkel, gemik op die eiesoortige behoeftes, sterktes en uitdagings van diékliëntegroep.

In the Participatory Action Research model (the PAR model) research and action to solve a particular problem in a specific community take place simultaneously (Schurink, 1998:405-418; Strydom, 2001:379-392). The PAR model aims at combining research with direct service delivery for the benefit of the community. Health scientists, and specifically psychosocial behavioural scientists, encounter a philosophical dilemma in the sense that they have to do research according to the requirements of the first world, but in the same time they have to adhere to the requirements of developing countries. In developing countries terminology such as cost effectiveness, utility, limited funds, capacity building, developmental approach, the speedy solution to problems and positive short-term reaction is important in research (White Paper on Social Welfare, 1997).