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 0710034644, 9780710034649

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The International Library of Sociology

LEARNING THROUGH GROUP EXPERIENCE

Founded by KARL MANNHEIM

The International Library ofSociolo~ SOCIOLOGY OF BEHAVIOUR AND PSYCHOLOGY In 18 Volumes I II

The Development of Conscience Disaster

Stephenson Wolfenstein

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

III IV

The Framework of Human Behaviour Frustration and Aggression

Blackburn Dollard, Miller et al

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

v

Young

Handbook of Social Psychology (The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

VI

HUlnan Behaviour and Social Processes

Rose

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

VII

The Human Group

Romans

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

VIII IX

Ottaway Young

Leanling Through Group Experience Personality and Problelns of Adjustment (The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

X Xl XII XIII

XIV

Psychology and the Social Pattern The Sane Society Siglnund Freud - An Introduction Social Learning and Imitation Society and Nature

Blackburn Fron2n2 Holitscher Miller and Dollard Kelsen

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

XV XVI XVII

Solitude and Privacy The Study of Groups Theory of Collective Behaviour

Raln10s Klein Smelser

(The above title is not available through Routledge in North America)

XVIII

Towards a Measure of Man

Rabnos

LEARNING THROUGH GROUP EXPERIENCE

by

A. K. C. OTTAWAY

First published in 1966 by Routledge Reprinted in 1998, 2000, 2001 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, axon, OX14 4RN Transferred to Digital Printing 2007

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 1966 A. K. C. Ottaway All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in The International Library ofSociology. This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Learning Through Group Experience ISBN 0-415-17787-1 The Sociology of Behaviour and Psychology: 18 Volumes ISBN 0-415-17834-7 The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes ISBN 0-415-17838-X Publisher's Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent

CONTENTS page vii

Preface I

WHAT KIND OF A GROUP?

I

The Training Group Physical Conditions The Non-directive Method The Permissive Climate Personal Involvement and Feedback The Role of the Leader 2

STARTING THE GROUP PROCESS

The Composition of the Group Early Problems How a Group Began Group Interaction 3

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The Defensive Position The Orientation Process The Development Situation 4

THE MOVE TOWARDS EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Interpersonal Reactions The Fear of Getting Hurt Facing Hostility 5

THE THERAPEUTIC ASPECT

The Gaining of Insight Deeper Personal Problems Learning and Therapy

6

3 6 8 12

14 16

19 19 22

24 37 42 43 48 58 63 63 67 75 81 82

86 99

1°9

PERSONAL REPORTS Vv

Contents

7

ON WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT

Understanding Behaviour The Gro\vth of Self-realisation The Future of the Training Group

page 145 145 150 154

BIBLIOGRAPHY

162

INDEX

167

VI

PREFACE THIS book is a description of some of the things which happen in small groups of a particular kinc\. This kind of group I have called a 'non-directive' training group. Its l1ature and method of working are fully described in Chapter I, and in later chapters an account is given of how the group process starts and develops, and how the members move towards deeper personal involvement. Throughout the book I have attempted an analysis of the learning process which took place in the groups I have conducted. This is a personal account and it is further illustrated by the personal notes of group members. Small groups of this non-directive type are coming to be used more widely in the training of social workers, probation officers, prison officers and teachers, whether for initial training or for in-service or refresher courses. I have been taking such groups for several years and the experiences I have described will, I think, be typical of the sort of experiences undergone by those who have been in other groups of this kind. I have offered a conceptual framework by means of which some elements of this particular group process can be clarified and explained. Much more research is needed in this country, in spite. of the elaborate and detailed studies which have been made in the U.S.A. It is hoped that this introductory book will be of help to those who are participating in this kind of work already, as staff members or students, or who are entering upon a training scheme which includes non-directive group methods. While the techniques I employ have been worked out over a long period the illustrative material has been taken mainly from the work of two grollps. My thanks are due to the members of these groups without whose co-operation this book could not have been written. I thank them not only for their regular attendance for so long a period, and for their active participation, but also for the willing permission they gave for VII

Preface the publication of extracts from their private and confidential notes. Anonymity has been preserved by the use of initial letters having no relation to the person's name. I should also explaill to my group members that it has only been possible to use here a small proportion of the rich material collected, and any member \vho has not been quoted need not feel that his help has been any the less valuable for that. A. K. C. OTTAWAY

viii

Chapter One

WHAT KIND OF A GROUP? The Training Group - Physical Conditions - The Non-directive Method - The Permissive Climate - Personal Involvement and Feedback - The Role of the Leader. THE purpose of this book is to describe the learning process which takes place in small groups of a particular kind. It ainls at showing that such groups provide a learning experience which enables their members to gain a better understanding of themselves and their relations to other people. In addition it will indicate that this type of insight into human behaviour cannot easily be achieved as effectively in any other way. Tllere has been a great deal written about small groups in recent years, especially since the setting up of the Research Centre for Group Dynamics at Ann Arbor, U.S.A., in 1945 and the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London, in 1947. Groups have been studied from the point of view of decisions and goals, cohesiveness, communication, efficiency, size, social climate, leadership, norms and values, and psychotherapy; in settings which have been experimental, educational, industrial, and clinical. Some idea of the range and scope of this work can be gained by glancing through some of the volumes named in the bibliographyl and by noting the extensive bibliographies these volumes themselves give. Groups of workers have been studied for their efficiency in industrial situations. The interactions of members of committees and conferences, and decision-making groups have been investigated. Small groups have been used as methods of training for social workers of all kinds, for teachers and for administrators and industrial managers. Groups have been used 1 See page 163 for a list of books covering all aspects of group work, with some guide as to the most important works in different categories.

1

What Kind

of a Group?

for various kinds of rehabilitation and activity therapy and groul) analysis, for patients both in and out of hospitals. All these groups are small face-to-face groups, of a size anything between five and eighteen members; and they all have certain psychological characteristics in common. Nevertheless each type of group has its ovvn particular function and purpose. It is now important to make clear what kind of a group this book is about. It is not a decision-making group, such as a committee or a board meeting, or a factory or office group; nor is it a psychotherapeutic group. It comes some\vhere in betweell the two, and has SOIne of the characteristics of each of them. The nature of these two types of group to which it does not belong will first be briefly considered. Task-orientated groups with well-defined goals and in which decisions would normally be reached are well described in the literature cited.! All such groups have certain categories of interaction. For example the interaction may proceed by (i) the giving and asking of information, (ii) the exchange of views, (iii) the consideratio11 of proposals, (iv) the process of agreement and disagreement, (v) the nlaking of decisions. Ultimately the task of a decision-making group is to reach a consensus of agreement on a course of action. At the same time members are putting forward their own individual forms of self-expression, which mayor may not be relevant to the task, but are nevertheless extremely important for the morale of the group in so far as they nlay either be disruptive of the joint purpose or lead to greater group cohesion. A separation between task-related behaviour and wllat is classified as 'expressive' behaviour is often made. These categories are described by R. F. Bales 2 and various modifications of his schema are in use. He makes a distinction between contributions in the 'task area' ,vhich bring nearer the solution of the group's problems, and contributions in the 'social elnotional' area, SOlne of which may even be described as 'task-irrelevant'. Some observers take the view that it is possible to define the circumstances in which selfexpression is appropriate, and distinguish these from the circumstances in which it is inappropriate. A group like a board 1 See page 165. A good description of decision-making groups is given in Josephine Klein: Working With Groups, 196 I. 2 Interaction Process Ana?;Jsis, 1950.

2

What Kind

of a Group?

meeting or a \vorking party, with a definite agenda, may well have its agreements and decisions frustrated by emotional and personally distorted views, and in these circumstances the wrong kind of self-expression might be called 'irrelevant' or 'inappropriate'. A study of what happens in groups can no doubt help the chairman to steer the discussion appropriately. By contrast, in a psychotherapeutic group all contributions of any kind are considered as important, and worth attending to, and nothing is ruled out as inappropriate. Group consenslls or making decisions is not the goal, and, in this respect therapeutic groups represent the opposite extreJVe to decisionmaking groups. Their characteristics are also well described in the literature cited. 1 The greatest possible freedom of discussion is encouraged so as to produce a 'free-floating discussion, as the group equivalent of free-association in individual psychoanalysis. The material produced in the group and the actions and interactions of its members are analysed. Thus the dynamic processes of the group and also the analysis of these processes are integral parts of the therapy. Further it is not sufficient to analyse the manifest content of the discussion; it is also necessary to interpret its latent or hidden meaning, or unconscious content, according to the principles learnt from psychoanalysis. Also the members of the psychotherapeutic group are patients who are known to be suffering from SOine degree of mental illness. THE TRAINING GROUP

There is another type of group which can be classified somewhere between the specifically decision-making or taskorientated group and the out-and-out psychotherapeutic group. This can be described as a training group (or educational group). Such a training group might deal with one or more of a variety of subjects. It has special applications in the field of the behavioural sciences such as psychology, sociology and management. There seems no reason why it should not be extended to the humanities in general though it has restricted use in the physical sciences. To define more exactly the kind 1 A good example of the working of such groups is given in S. H. Foulkes and E. J. Anthony: Group Psychotherapy, 1957.

3

What Kind of a Group? of group this book is concerned with it is a training group in the fields of social psychology, human relations and personality development. The main objective of the group is the understanding of human behaviour. The members have come together to gain more 'insight' (in a technical sense of the word) into interpersonal relations and human motivation. The membership of such groups usually consists of men and women who are actively engaged in some form of social work or teaching, or students who are in training for professional work of this kind. Thus such groups may form part of preparatory or in-service courses for any persons whose work brings them into close contact with the problems of hun1an relations, in a social worker and client or a teacher and learner situation. A similar technique has been used in training for industrial management or personnel work, and such training groups have many characteristics in common with the ones here described. In so far as the members are trying to understand themselves, their motives, and their attitudes to other people, that is, in so far as it is an attempt at 'self-discovery', which might lead to changes in attitudes and relationships, this kind of group has \vhat may be called a therapeutic aspect. In fact the longer it goes 011 the more therapeutic it becomes, which is one of the principal findings of this study. Yet the members of the group are still not 'patients'. They become more aware of their conflicts and anxieties and of their personal problems, but they are still within the range of normal adjustment in their capacity to carry out their day-to-day work. The main focus of the group remains on interpersonal behaviour patterns in the existing group situation, and not on personal therapy. Such therapy as occurs is as a result of the growth in insight. This point rather turns on what is meant by 'therapy'-a matter which will be discussed later. (See Chapter Five, especially pp. 99-109.) At the times when the group has as its goal the clarification of concepts and the comparison of matters of objective fact about overt behaviour, or when it is prepared to limit its agenda, it has similarities with a decision-making group. If, as sometimes happens, the group receives some direct instruction from its leader, trainer, or tutor then it temporarily changes its character into a task-orientated group where the task is to acquire some externally given knowledge. If its normal work

4

What Kind of a Group? were to be regarded as task-orientated then its task could be seen as of an extremely general and undefined nature, namely, the study of human behaviour of any kind, in a setting where the interaction of the members themselves within the group is a part of their study. These training groups in human relations have been in- use in England for some time in tIle training of social workers, and experiments have been made with them in the training of teachers. 1 There has been a recent expansion of the use ofgroup work in training for industrial and hospital management, as the major activity in courses for managers and administrators. These have come to be known as 'T-groups', and were an American import, having developed since about 1946 at the National Training Laboratory in Bethel, Maine. Another type of group has been pioneered by the Tavistock Institute since their first group relations training conference held jointly with Leicester University Extramural Department in 1957. 2 Yet there has been little written about the T-group type of work in this country, though the literature from the U.S.A. is flourishing. 3 I started my own type of training group in 1958 with an extramural class of social workers, conducting a weekly session for twenty-four weeks. A written account of this experiment is available. 4 It continued the following year with some of the original members and additions to the group. Then in 1959 I met the Governor of a Borstal who had started a scheme of Group Counselling for the inmates. The groups were conducted by prison officers with little or no training for the work. Through the co-operation of another University Extramural Department I was enabled to run a series of weekly training groups on Group Psychology for prison officers during the winter sessions for the next three years. In 1964 we started a new scheme, under a new Governor, of 3-4 day and later 5 day full-time courses, and I greatly value my continuing association with this most progressive Borstal institution. I have 1 See 'Papers in the Teaching of Personality Development,' The Sociological Review Monographs, Nos. 1 and 2, 1958 and 1959, for an approach to this work. 2 c. Sofer and F. Trist: Exploring Group Relations, 1959. 3 See Bibliography, page 164. 4 'Group Dynamics-Some Notes on an Experiment,' Case Conference, Vol. 6, NO.7, Jan. 1960.

5

What Kind

of a Group?

also been able to try various other experimental groups, including new style tutorial groups with my OWll students in training to be teachers. I began to learn something about group interaction. I learnt a good deal more by attending the Tavistock Institute Seminar in April 1963, and the International Seminar in Group Dynamics at Oxford in the summer of 1964. The two working groups I have chosen to describe in some detail in the following pages consisted of forty-eight sessions with each group. Each session was a full two hours, witll the sanle, regular membership throughout except for some members leaving the groups because they left the district or for other unavoidablc reasons. I have more complete records of these groups then any others, and \vhat is more important I have a great number of written notes from the members who have carefully studied their own reactions as the groups developed. Full details of the way these courses started and became working groups will be given in the next t\NO chapters. One of the most important features of the group is its method of working. I have not called these groups T-groups since they were never known under that name. They are conducted in a similar way to many T -groups. The leader of a T-group is called the trainer, and the details of technique used depend very much on the trainer. There is considerable latitude in the method, which at this developing stage is no disadvantage. What I think will be most profitable will be to summarise ill advance the methodological principles I myself use, and the general working methods of the group which tcnd to emerge. The method will then be illustrated by the happenings in the groups to be described later on. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

It is a face-to-face group, which means that the members sit in a circle with the conductor-Ieader-trainer-tutor in the circle among them. What shall we call him? The 'tutor' makes it seem too educational; the 'leader' has autlloritarian over.. tones; the 'conductor' reminds one of all orchestra or a motorbus; and the 'trainer' of a circus or a gymnasiunl. The Tavistock seminar uses the word 'consultant', but this takes one into

6

vVlzat Kind of a Group? the doctor's waiting-room. Since it is oftell called a traininggroup, and the nlembers are there to learn a skill, the use of the word 'trainer' has a certain logic. But I do not like this term though I occasionally use it. The fact is that however close the interaction there is one member presellt in the group who is different from all the others. He is the staff member; he is 'the one who takes the group' and we have no single word for him. We really need a new word to describe a new function, but one has not yet been invented ,,,,hich is generally acceptable. He is also the one who stops taking the group when it finishes, and this is the main signal that it has finished. On the whole I still prefer the word 'leader' to the word 'trainer'. New styles of leadership of a democratic or integrative kind rather than of an authoritarian or dominative kind are now being recognised, and he can be regarded as a new type of non-directive leader. They are not leaderless groups as I have sometimes heard them described, since no groups function for long without a struggle for leadership. Nor are they unstructured groups. The circle is a definite physical structure which is insisted upon. The menlbers normally speak one at a time, and while one speaks the others are nornlally paying attention. This method structures the behaviour to some extent, and is a convention that groups soon come to accept. If the group splits up into two or more groups then unity has to be restored or the group remains split, and its original structure is changed. The group must be small, and my groups have worked best when they have been twelve or less. These numbers can sit easily in a single circle and do not need a large room. They need not raise their voices to talk, and short remarks aside, which may be important, are heard by all. If the group is larger similar non-directive methods can be employed, but with more than about fifteen members the fornl of interaction changes. This small group is a special artificial device designed to achieve certain ends. vVhen people say it is artificial tlley are right. In this form it is not a natural activity. It is still astonishing how difficult it is in a university or a school to find a classroom in which one can arrange easily to sit in a circle. For my first extramural group, a few years ago, with a most sympathetic director, I was offered a room in the

7

What Kind of a Group? Department of Anciellt History witll rows of heavy desks facing a rostrum, with a high preacher's lectern on it for the 'lecturer'. Luckily the new adult educatioll centres are providing not only suitable light and movable furniture but also con1fortable chairs. Some of my present groups sit in armchairs on a carpet, with side-tables, ash-trays and occasional cups of coffee. I do not think reasonable comfort is sinful for these groups. Even the existence of a licensed bar in the building has not been found a disruptive influence. THE NON-DIRECTIVE METHOD

Mter the first meeting no subject is set for discussion, and no directions are given as to the form the meeting should take. Nor is any immediate task set to the group. The one who takes the group does not give an opening talk. The group may sit in silence if it wishes. At the first meeting, with a new group, this method of working has to be explained, and very likely some reasons for it have to be given. The reasons will certainly not all be accepted by the group but they will ask for them, and I think in the early stages it is best for the staff member to say something about why he is using the techniques which, it may be felt, he is imposing on the group. Anyway he is encouraging the group to accept some rules for itself, at his suggestion, which is not quite the same thing as imposing the rules, but may appear to be. The very term non-directive is perhaps a dubious one, and in any case needs further explanation. It might be argued that non-directive methods are strictly speaking not possible. The trainer, leader, or tutor, is a person of prestige. He is the staff member, or he is known to the students or group members as an authority on a certain range of subject-matter. He knows more than they do in some respects. Even if the group are adults of a comparable age and ability with the one who takes the group there must be some reason why he was chosen to be in this position of leader. It would generally imply that he knew a lot about groups, or had some skill or experience the others had not got. Is it not, in fact, a form of direction when the setting of the 'rules', few though they be, are decided by the leader? The members must be suspicious that he has some objective with the group. Will 8

What Kind of a Group? the group not try to discover what the leader wants even if he does not reveal it? In any case they must have an expectation that the leader wants something. This then sets them an initial task. The leader has taken the lead and it has not been rejected. What happens next? I accept that the initial task set to the group is to decide its method of working, and this is why I encourage the discussion of this in its early stages. I am prepared to face this issue of direction, and to state that in so far as I can influence the course of the discussion my intention is to help them to discover for themselves what they want to learn and ho"v they wish to discuss it. I am not trying to initiate any particular subjectmatter, but that I may later indirectly encourage the topics I think to be profitable to the group, in a particular context, and discourage those I think less profitable. But I stress that the right to influence the group this way is one I allow to any other member of the group. This procedure is so different from the ordinary teaching method that it is bound to strike the group as startling, and perhaps give them a feeling of extreme insecurity. This is why I do not wish to leave them, at the beginning, totally unsupported, but allow them to see that part of my role is to have some responsibility for what goes on. This is not just a form of torture I have devised because I enjoy to sit back and watch them flounder. It must be realised that all the groups I am describing are made up of people who know something about the nominal subject-matter of the course. It was one of the conditions of joining the in-service professional groups that the person had some form of training as a social worker or teacher, or had some general knowledge of psychology. With my student groups they are all university graduates, who during other sessions in the same period oftraining are receiving lectures on the-subjectmatter of psychology, sociology and educational theory. Nevertheless they often begin by saying 'What shall we talk about? What is the subject for to-night?' I can answer this in various ways, if it is the first meeting. At the next meeting I don't answer it. For instance I can say, 'You know you have come here to learn something about your own feelings and behaviour in a group situation. What is this group situation?' Or I can say, 'People often learn things more easily when they B 9

What Kind of a Group? know what they want to learn. It is a question of motivation~ I wonder why you all joined this group?' Or I can say, 'One of the chief difficulties of understanding human behaviour is to understand another person's experience. How can we do this ourselves unless we attempt to share our experiences?' If they throw this last one back at me by saying 'All right then, you start by telling us about your experience,' I have to reply that this is not how I see my present role as a leader, and this throws us back again to the problems of nori-directive methods. I think possibly 'group-centred' method is the better term to apply as opposed to 'teacher-centred'. When a university offers a course the trouble is that it asks for a title and usually announces a syllabus. My recent courses were called The Social Psychology of Personality Development, and everybody not in the know came expecting this is what I would 'teach' them, although the leaflet clearly indicated there would be no lectures. (How difficult it is to get people not to think of lectures as the primary adult teaching method under all circumstances, and not just as one of many possible techniques). After the initial disappointment that there was no lecture somebody in my first group said 'Well, what shall we talk about?' and I replied, 'You know the subject. You can talk about social, or psychology or personality or development, or you can talk about the or of if you want to'. I am not sure if the questioner came the following week. One must reckon that some people will drop out from groups because the method of working is not what they want, or is a method they cannot deal with. When the non-directive method works as it should, the learners gain insight into the nature of behaviour and personality growth by the study of their own experience rather than by formal instruction. In my own work which has been so much in an educational setting it has been inevitable that I have played, on occasion, the role of instructor ~ore than would be expected by many T-group trainers. However this has not been a disadvantage since it has shown me the possible extension of group-centred principles to modify and liberalise the more standard methods of tutorial groups and seminars. It is the point at which, and the context in which the tutor communicates his knowledge which is of critical importance. It is often a question of timing. For example, many experiences in groups 10

What Kind of a Group? can be used to illustrate well accepted psychological mechanisms, bllt the interpretation should always come after the event and not anticipate it. The wise teacher, who can see what is likely to arise will wait and let it arise without his assistance; but by drawing attention later to what has happened in the group he may be able to reinforce the learning which has been experienced. It is difficult to see how the group leader with the purest of non-directional intentions, and who makes extremely rare interventions, can avoid at some time influencing the content of the group discussion, and nor do I think he should wish to avoid it. It is best that this should be frankly admitted. His method is indirect rather than direct and that is the whole matter. The mere fact of the leader making any interpretations at all assumes a theory of behaviour, and to some extent is teaching or communicating some element of that theory of behaviour. The members are expected to learn from what happens in the group, but one of the most important happenings is the leader's intervention, and all the more so if this is only an occasional event. He is saying in effect, 'Look at this, what do you make of it?' and by focusing on the particular item of behaviour before the group he assists the learning process. A good tutor is one who helps the learning process, and so by that means the leader takes on the role of a tutor, but he does so indirectly and with careful timing. In fact training by discussion is a teaching method, and it is best to admit this openly. My purpose is to describe the way my groups operate, and the kind of learning experience they offer, and to suggest that this cannot be achieved as effectively in any other way. This is not to deny that some of the essentials of the non-directive group method can be used, and are being used by good teachers, in other conventional teaching situations. For example the idea of student-centred discussion, while the teacher remains in the background, is nothing new. This approach is adopted in many a seminar and school class. Its essential principle is that the students are left to think for themselves, and their attitudes, feelings and judgments are the actual subject-matter for the class. The teacher's function is to clarify, to reflect back opinions given, and to record conI I

What Kind of a Group? elusions; perhaps drawing attention from time to time to the possibility of factual errors or inconsistencies, and indicating further lines of investigation. The teacher is thus trying to pass the tasks of evaluation, decision and judgment from himself on to his students, vvhich is precisely one of the objects of the nondirective group leader. THE PERMISSIVE CLIMATE

The climate of discussion in the group is informal and as permissive as possible, so that the members may feel free to say what tIley like. It must not be imagined that freedom to speak comes easily. Nothing is further from the facts than to find that a group beconles permissive just because the leader says it may i.e. he gives his permission. The obstacles to self-expression are nunlerous. People may just chat quite easily. But in fact people don't speak freely about things that really matter until they feel they can trust the group with what they have to say. Anything that is said might be of importance to the group, which means that everything that is said must be considered and attended to. Nothing should be ruled out as irrelevant or inappropriate. This is the general principle, and in this respect we are tending to move towards the 'free-floating' discussion of the therapeutic group. It is not a decision-making group of the kind where irrelevance has to be avoided in the interests of efficiency. When decisions have to be made they are likely to be on matters of procedure, and ways of organising the efforts towards solving a group problem. In the work itself selfexpression and the expression of feeling are desirable. Are there any limits to the expression of feeling? This is for the group to decide. The general principle is that anything may be said. Verbal attacks and hostility towards other members and towards the leader are to be expected, as well as expressions of support and admiration. The ordinary conventions of politeness and good manners are held to be suspellded, difficult though it is to dispense with them. Local rules are sometimes made, often in order to protect members. For instance a group may decide that any questions may be asked of members but that any member may refuse to 12

What Kind of a Group? answer a question, without having pressure brought to bear on him to answer. Another group may think it better not to ask direct questions about a member's feelings on intimate matters, but if a member gives a definite expression of feeling he should be prepared to be questioned about it, and challenged on its origins or implications. After a while each group builds up a particular culture of its own, with its own set of norms and values. Very frequently groups begin to build up what amounts to a private language in respect to certain terms which are givel1 special usage in the group. New words or expressions may be coined, as in a family, to express events in a group's experience, or to describe the nature of one of its habitual situations. Groups should be made conscious of these restricted codes of communication and patterns of expectation which they bllild up, and invited to consider their basis and function in the l.ife of the group. A group can get too set in its habits, like an individual can. The group culture set up is not always the n10st suitable for its future development. All communications and relationships are looked upon as a part of the total field of group interaction. According to the principles of group dynamics all groups have a particular structure, which depends on their membership. Differences in status or differences in sex and age within a group will clearly have an effect on the structure of the group, as will differences in the degree of participation. The silent member tends to be isolated from the group. As the culture of the group changes so too does the structure as it develops and friendships and antagonisms begin to form. The formation of sub-groups can disrupt the common purpose of a group, but a sub-group can be tolerated provided its composition is not rigid, and that its members still interact within the main group. The recognition of the value of each individual member's contribution to the group is the surest sign of good group morale. A silence in a group is still a form of interaction-assuming the members are still present. Silences can be of different kinds, some hostile, some anxious, some reflective. When the group interaction is puzzling the question to ask to olleself or aloud is 'What is happening in the group?' What is going on in the group at the time is the most important thing about it, and this is called by some people the 'here and now' situation. 13

What Kind oj a Group? PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT AND FEEDBACK

The group comes together with some interest in common. There is nevertheless an initial tension, while people appraise each other, and seek a role. Members wonder what is expected of them and seek a part to play. Participation then begins, either by open expression, thinking or feeling. The open expression is not only in words. Facial expressions, gestures and bodily movements are very significant and communicate a good deal to the watchful observer. Some kinds of group have utilised special techniques involving dramatic presentations or mime, but I am dealing here only with groups which are dependent on ordinary spoken communication, with its accompanying forms of gesture, expression and tone. What may be called three levels oj participation are always present:(i) The interest is conscious and expressed, and is represented by what people are saying on this conscious level. (ii) The interest is conscious, but held back in the person's inner thoughts and feelings. This is what he is thinking but not saying, but which may be partly betrayed by the way he looks or behaves. (iii) There is a level of unconscious thought and feeling, which may show in spoken or unspoken expression, but people are unaware of its cause. For example a person may give a look of hostility without knowing he is doing it and without knowing why. This unconscious level represents what a person doesn't know he is thinking, while he may be thinking or saying something quite different. The first problem ofthe group is the problem ofparticipation. If the leader will not guide them they are left to themselves. This may lead to a feeling of inadequacy and anxiety. Someone may be only too willing to speak and come forward with the apparent intention of helping the group to 'get going'. This move may be welcomed by some, who may be relieved to think the group has started, but it may be resented by others. Tensions begin to arise over who shall take the lead, or whose lead shall be followed. Somebody may begin to make jokes. Somebody says what ought to be done, but nobody does it, and somebody says we are wasting our time. Whatever happens 14

What Kind of a Group? the leader says nothing. Reactions towards his abdication of authority will come early in the life of the group. Why is he leaving us in the lurch? As nominal leader he attracts a transference of feeling towards himself. He may be liked or disliked, blamed or praised by different members. Reactions towards a leader are always ambivalent, and involve a mixture of affection and hate, trust and fear. When a group is left alone it will search for a leader. The problem of dependency thus arises, since people tend to be dependent on a leader, and dislike taking the initiative. The group has to be weaned from dependence on the leader, and one of his first tasks is to face them with this dilemma. In a permissive group the leader does not attempt to dominate or direct. When the group becomes, to a greater or lesser degree, independent of the leader then the merpbers begin to share experiences more freely, and genuine communication begins. Temporary leaders may emerge and retire or be replaced, and interaction takes place over the question of authority within the group. This is part of what I mean by personal involvement in the group. When a provisional method of working is agreed upon a feeling of support can be given by the group. Members begin to feel that they belong to the group and that they can trust it (up to a point), and can depend upon the group to listen and accept the statement of their views. As soon as the members begin to realise that they have common problems the group becomes more cohesive, and the members tend to be identified with each other, and identified with the tasks of the group. They can then be said to be personally involved in the learning process. The mere stating of a problem often leads to a new attitude towards it, and all the more if someone else has the same kind of problem. We all do have similar problems of human relations. The stages of development which groups normally go through to reach a condition of deeper involvement are described in Chapter Three. Here I work out a conceptual framework for interpreting 110W a group moves from a defensive position of non-involvement to a situation where a richer, developing participation becomes possible. This personal and emotional involvement in learning, when it is achieved, has two important consequences:15

What Kind of a Group? (i) It requires one to attempt to understand another person's experience. This is the primary difficulty in understanding human behaviour. The way to understand anotl1er person's experience is to try and relate it to one's own, that is to try and feel what it is like to behave like the other person. (ii) It enables one to understand better one's own motivation. Why do we behave as we do, and why does our behaviour have certain effects upon others? We may find that we do not understand our own behaviour, and that certain emotional blocks have to be removed before we can see ourselves as we appear to others. The achievement of effective personal communication in the group in this process of learning is due to the principle of feedback. It enables a person to check that his message has been received and understood, and that he has received and understood the message sent to him. Feedback can be in any direction: from teacher to learner, from learner to teacher, or between learners. In this "vay each member of the group can get an idea of how others respond to his behaviour. It enables a person to n10dify his behaviour, or correct his misunderstanding in the light of information received from others. In practice it often means getting clear what has been said by a restatement or a process of reflecting back what another has said. It thus involves sentences beginning like, 'Do you mean ... ?' or 'If I understand yOll rightly you are saying ...' or 'Would YOll mind repeating that in other words?' or 'This is the effect of what you said on me ...' It very often falls to the leader to initiate the feedback process. THE ROLE OF THE LEADER

The principal function of the leader is to help to clarify meaning and interpret what is happening in the group. The word 'interpret' is here taken to mean 'to put into another form of words'. The leader carries out his task by restating, or explailling, or analysing the content, process, behaviour and relationships of the group. The leader goes beyond the ordinary process offeedback by restatement, and offers interpretations of what is happening in the group as a result of his observation of the total field of interaction in the here and now situation. 16

What Kind of a Group? Interpretations made by the leader may be put into two categories. First those concerning group processes and interaction, and what can be derived from what is overtly said in the group. Second concerning the concealed feelings and inner motives of individuals. The second type of interpretation is avoided by some leaders, since it is very subjective, and borders on a psychoanalytic type of interpretation. Illustrations of different types of intervention and interpretation by the leader are given throughout the other chapters, and a further note on his influence is given in Chapter Seven. To learn how to take a group is the final objective of anybody taking part in group training, and that is what the whole of this book is about. The leader does not necessarily give any facts at all concerning the subject under discussion. Such facts as are wanted are brought in by the group, or subsequently looked up afterwards if they are felt necessary. A good library of books and journals should be available for the group members to use. I think it best that fact-giving sessions, such as lectures on psychology, or on group theory, should be given at some other time, and sharply distinguished as a different type of activity from the group sessions. It is also better if the group leader is not the person who gives the lectures to his group. The leader docs not always give the lead, and he must often be prepared to "vait in silence. To tolerate silence and be prepared to wait is a valuable ability in a leader. At the beginning of a meeting a period of silence is not unusual, and if the leader breaks it, which he should rarely do, he should be aware of his intentions. Is he taking the lead? Is he interpreting? Is he inviting others to begin? Any member may take part in or initiate the process of restatement, or interpretation, when he feels able to do so. This is a sign of gaining insight into the group process, and gaining independence from the leader. As more and more members of the group reach this stage of development it shows that the leader has acted as he should-in such a way as to make his presence less and less necessary. The members of the group will then have reached a further stage in understanding what it means to be a human being, which I take to be one of the major objectives of education.

What Kind of a Group? It seems to me a fitting end to this chapter to quote the best definition I have yet found of the functions of the kind of group I am trying to describe.! The group is brought together in order that members may learn about group operation and about their own behaviour and feelings in a group situation. Discussion is exploratory, informal and relatively free., The curriculum emerges from diagnosis of concerns revealed during discussion. The role of the leader is usually to suggest and interpret rather than to direct. These groups ordinarily deat with such problems as the identification of authority in the group, the nature and limits to expression of feeling, the manner of organisation of efforts towards problem solving or decision making etc. These kinds of problems are dealt with much more explicitly than in a group upon which specific task demands are imposed~ For the training group as a whole the major purpose is to establish, through study of its problems, a set of agreements which will enable discussion to be profitable. For the individual, goals include: increased understanding of group operation; increased awareness of one's own roles, needs and effects on others; and increased personal effectiveness in a groJ.lp situation. It is assumed that these changes or learnings will lead to increased effectiveness in the back home situation, and this is the principle raison d'etre for the training group.

1 Fronl Dorothy Stock and I-I. A. Thelen: Emotional Dynamics and Group Culture, 1958, p. 145·

18

Chapter Two STARTING THE GROUP ·PROCESS The Composition

of the Group - Early Problems - How a Group Began - Group Interaction

WITH students taking professional training their selection for the course has already been made, their general suitability checked, and attendance at group work is not usually voluntary. Nevertheless there may be some students for whom it is a less successful method than for others. For this reason voluntary groups are sometimes offered among other optional classes. When training groups are offered to a wider range of people by university extension courses, or by various institutions organising study conferences, summer schools etc., the aims of the group, its means of selection, and its voluntary nature become important. 11y earlier courses on Group Psychology were announced by a leaflet which described the aims of the course in words much as follows:'The purpose of this course is to make a study of the social psychology of small groups, as a means to understanding human relations and personality development. The members will be able to gain insight into problems of their own social interaction not only by instruction and guided reading, but also by free discussion within the learning group itself. There will be no lectures, but a seminar technique will be used throughout. The syllabus will be determined by the way in which the work of the group develops. The course is intended primarily for people who are professionally engaged in working with, and helping, other human beings.' THE

CO~IPOSITION OF

THE GROUP

In these earlier courses it was also announced that the group 19

Starting the G'roup Process would be limited in numbers, and a special application form had to be returned by intending members. This asked for details of qualifications and/or training, profession, and a brief statement of the applicant's interest in taking the course. In this way some advance knowledge was obtained of the possible composition of the group, which aided the selection of its final membership after the first few meetings. I have always found it important to stress that the groups were primarily intended for people who already had some training in social work, medical or psychological work, or teaching, and who were also actively engaged professionally at the time. This condition enabled the organisers to eliminate, when necessary, certain applicants who would not profit from the course. These include the older and often retired people who are just following an 'interest' in psychology, and the women described only as 'housewives' who so frequently join classes, quite reasonably, for the mental stimulus of an evening away from home. Many courses are available for this valuable type of adult student but small group psychology is not what they are usually suited for. Ho\vever I have quite often accepted parents who are specially interested in the family group and its problems in present-day society, and who have young children. They 11ave usually made some previous study of psychology or are women who have been teachers before marriage. I took one pilot course called Parents and Children which was composed entirely of this type of parent. The composition of the group is of considerable in1portance. A maximum of twelve is the best size; it is possible to have fifteen on the roll which allo\vs for absences, but more than this is difficult and not effective. In the end a regular attendance of the same nine or ten has given the most profitable results. Unless the group is all of the same sex it is best that the numbers of each sex should be as nearly equal as possible. A group of men will not \vork well with just one woman present and vice versa. If the members differ very much in age, experience, or intelligence it is not so much that the group will not work bllt that progress will be much slower, and in some cases a deadlock will be reached and the group may split up. I have found that personal involvement comes more easily to younger people from the ages of twenty to thirty-five. Progress is more difficult 20

Starting the Group Process with those who are over forty-five or fifty, unless they have previously developed considerable insight into emotional pro~esses, or gained an understanding of dynamic psychology. People with serious emotional disturbances cannot be helped by the training group, and need professional psychotherapy, in groups or individually. They will disrupt any ordinary form of training group. On the other hand people who have minor neurotic symptoms, as we most of us do at some time or other, can be considerably helped. What might be called 'therapy for normal people' undoubtedly occurs in educational groups. For successful learning there must be sufficient intelligence in the members of the group, to get some grasp of the theories of groups. There may well be a form of group technique which will work well with people of little education and poor powers of self-expression, but I have no experience of this. I am speaking of groups where the terminology applied to group processes can be explained to the group, and be helpful to it in understanding its own development. The most precise and elaborate explanation of group processes will be useless to a group member unless he can understand it. The members of the group must co-operate if they are to succeed in gaining insight; but in order to co-operate they must be able to understand what the group, and the leader, is trying to do. This is to say that 'insight' into one's behaviour, attitudes and lllotives, and the reasons for them is partly an intellectual process as well as an emotional acceptance. It is true that emotional learning is the most important and the most difficult form of learning that goes on in the group, but as well as gaining sensitivity to interpersonal behaviour one needs to gain knowledge about it. This kind of knowledge involves a cognitive factor. While the principal aim may be described as getting people to feel and behave differently this does not excuse them from thinking. The essence of gaining 'insight' is to be able to feel and think about what you feel at the same time. What this means from the point of view of the initial selection of a group is that a reasonably homogeneous group, so far as educational background and emotional stability is concerned, is more likely to be successful. Any extreme divergence in these respects will lead to considerable and perhaps insuperable difficulties. In the two groups I am going to describe ill detail the 21

Starting the Group Process wording of tIle announcement of a two-year university extension course on The Social Psychology of Personality Development was as follows:Intended for those who are in close contact with young people, whether as social workers, teachers or parents, this course aims to study the development of personality from its roots in infancy and childhood, through adolescence, and towards maturity. Discussion will playa particularly important part in this course, and each member of the seminar will be expected to contribute. The course will cover all the main aspects of the psychology of personality including reference to the findings of sociology and psychoanalysis. Consideration will also be given to the recent advances in the knowledge of small group processes since it has been found that insight into human relations can be increased by study of the social interaction within the learning group itself. EARLY PROBLEMS

How the groups were formed and their early problems will be described by extracts from the notes written by myself and by members of the groups. At first I used to write some brief notes during the meetings and expand them afterwards, but later in the series I adopted my present practice which is to write nothing during the meeting. I usually write up my notes the following day, and on occasion I make some brief notes immediately after the meeting if I think there is any important happening which I am likely to forget. The notes I wrote during the meeting were usually on one sheet of paper only, and I explained that I was only writing key words or sentences which I thought of special significance and which I might want to bring back to the attention of the group later. If anyone seemed very curious about what I was writing I offered to show the paper and often have done in the early meetings. Some other members also made notes, and more so after the first six meetings when I told each group I should very much like to receive written notes on how members thought the group was working and what they thought they were learning from the group process. I encouraged the keeping of a note-book at home with impressions added each week, but some people preferred to write a more general impression after several 22

Starting the Group Process meetings. The early notes tended to be descriptions of what was discussed in terms of subject-matter, of who spoke, and of superficial group interaction. Only later was there reference to underlying feelings, t