Abstract:

Based on the research in the gerocomium M in Nanjing, this paper is aimed at investigating the function of group work in the empowerment and treatment of social relationship for the five-guaranteed seniors in pension agencies from the viewpoint of empowerment. We mainly focus on three consecutive phases: pure mental empowerment of social relationship, practical empowerment of social relationship and self-management in achieving the social relationship. It is reported that, the seniors in the pension agencies in China usually have inefficient family relationship and neighborhood relationship, narrow friend relationship, both reliant and alienated agency relationship. And the method of group therapy is helpful in improving their social relationship. In fact, it is necessary for the social workers to mobilize the relevant participators through a variety of skills and roles. And the concerned subjects should improve their individual sense of empowerment and create the collective empowerment environment. Furthermore, in order to achieve the goal of empowerment of social relationship for this group, it is recommended to establish a progressive empowerment mode, "from the inside out", namely, from individual to family members, then to acquaintances, and finally to strangers. It is found that, the uniqueness of the clients, the particularity of the agency environment, the relevance of the group goals and the complexity of the institutional environment are the internal mechanisms that affect the empowerment mode of social relationship among the five-guaranteed seniors in the pension agencies.

Key words: family relationship, acquaintance relationship, stranger relationship, empowerment, group therapy