The «Gruppi di Parola»: Searching the theoretical and practical underpinnings within a focused ethnographic perspective

The Gruppo di Parola is an intervention group for children having separated parents used in Italy since 2005. It can be defined as a short, preventive and support program which is meant for school-age children (6-12 years old) as well as for teenagers (13-17 years old). The aim of the current study was to discover the theoretical underpinnings of the Italian Gruppi di Parola according to a focused ethnographic perspective. The study involved 12 workers who have concluded their training at least two years before the research. They were interviewed and content analysis were conducted on their verbatim transcription. In particular, the qualitative analysis of the content (QRS*NVivo) and the thematic analysis of the elementary contexts (T-Lab) were done in a multimethodological perspective. Our analysis demonstrates the ultimate presence of four thematic clusters showing that the intervention is rooted in both theoretical elements (the theoretical and conceptual references) as well as in more practical ones (the way of leadership, the value of the group, the particular «use» of the words of participants) within an integrative perspective.