Chapter 2

1. Chapter 2 Group Dynamics Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

2. Roadmap • Group Dynamics • Group Content • Group Process • Balance Between Group Content and Process • The Group as a System • Influencing Group Dynamics • Positive and Negative Group Variables • Learning Group Dynamics

3. Group Dynamics • Group dynamics are the forces with a group • Include two types elements: • Group Content: Information within and purpose of the group • Group Process: Interactions and relationships among members within the group • The amount and mixture of group content and group process determine group dynamics.

4. Group Content • Involves the following elements that are exchanged with in a group: • Words • Ideas • Information • Also includes the purpose of the group

5. Group Process • Interaction of group members with one another, often in some meaningful way • As groups develop, less time generally is spent on content material, and more is focused on process functions.

6. Seven Types of Group Processes • Contagion • Conflict • Anxiety • Consensual validation • Universality • Family reenactment • Instillation of hope (Donigian & Malnati, 1997)

7. Contagion • Group process in which member behavior elicits group interaction

8. Conflict • Often revolves around significant issues in people’s lives (e.g., authority, intimacy, autonomy, power, loss) • How a group leader handles conflict makes a difference.

9. Anxiety • Two common strategies that group members employ to cope with the discomfort of some emotions in group: • Restrictive solution • Changing the subject • Attacking a group member • Intellectualizing • Enabling solution • Open listening and discussions about anxiety that is present in the group

10. Consensual Validation • Checking one’s behaviors with a group of others, which may result in group members being questioned, confronted, or affirmed either individually or within the group regarding their actions.

11. Universality • The discovery that others within the group have similar experiences and feelings. • Enables group participants to identify and unify with one another.

12. Family Reenactment • Because groups resemble families in many ways, it is natural that some behaviors by group members are connected to issues they never resolved in childhood. • Group members can help each other work through unresolved issues related to their families-of-origin, or they can perpetuate these behaviors by allowing group members to lapse into the past.

13. Instillation of Hope • The process by which group members who feel hopeless may be able to come to terms with their own issues and experience a sense that their issues can be resolved.

14. Balance Between Content and Process • Process must be balanced with content regardless of group type. • Process may be likened to a river and content to a boat on the river (Geroski & Kraus, 2002)

15. Balance Between Process and Content • Two sets of questions to guide the interplay between content and process • Content questions include: • What do we have to do? • What do we need to do to accomplish our goals? • Process questions center on: • Who am I? • Who am I with you? • Who are we together?” (Hulse-Killacky, Killacky, & Donigian, 2001)

16. The Group as a System • Think of the group as a system, a set of elements standing in interaction with one another (Agazarian, 1997) • Each element in the system is affected by whatever happens to any other element • The system is only as strong as its weakest part. Likewise, the system is greater than the sum of its parts.

17. INFLUENCING GROUP DYNAMICS • Group leaders can set up conditions and structures that will help the group potentially run smoother and better in both the long and the short run. • preplanning a group • the group structure • group exercises • group interaction • members’ roles

18. Preplanning a Group • Factors to consider when planning a group: • Clarity of purpose— what the group is to accomplish • Group setting – the environment in which the group will meet • Time - the ideal time frame for the group • Size – increasing the size of a group decreases its cohesiveness and member satisfaction • Membership – heterogeneous vs. homogeneous groups

19. Preplanning a Group • Factors to consider when planning a group: • Goals – expected or planned outcomes • Commitment – voluntary or mandated attendance • Openness – Consideration of novel ideas and actions • Risk-taking – Engaging in new thoughts and behaviors • Attitudes – How members and leaders perceive tasks and others

20. Group Structure • Physical setup of a group • Interaction of each group member in relation to the group as a whole

21. Group Structure • Physical Structure – Arrangement of group members in the group • Circle Format • Chain Arrangement • Wheel Arrangement • “Y” Arrangement • Theater Style

22. Group Exercises and Activities • Can be beneficial if they promote a positive atmosphere in the group (Jacobs et al., 2016) • Are often used in groups to engage the group, support group members to take risks, and to provide a learning experience that helps group members grow (Riva, 2004)

23. Types of Group Exercises and Activities • Written exercises • Movement exercises • Creative props exercises • Arts and crafts exercises • Fantasy exercises • Common reading exercises • Feedback exercises • Trust exercises

24. Types of Group Exercises and Activities Continued • Experiential exercises • Moral dilemma exercises • Group-decision exercises • Touching exercises • Rounds • Dyads and triads (Jacobs et al., 2016)

25. Group Exercises and Activities • Can include the following types of activities: • Verbal intrapersonal • Verbal interpersonal • Nonverbal intrapersonal • Nonverbal interpersonal

26. Group Interaction • The way members relate to one another • Exists on a continuum, from extremely nondirective to highly directive • Consists of nonverbal and verbal behaviors

27. Nonverbal Behaviors • Make up “more than 50 percent of the messages communicated in social relationships” (Vander Kolk, 1985, p. 171) • Four main categories of nonverbal behavior: • Body behaviors • Interaction with the environment • Speech • Physical appearance (Vander Kolk, 1985) • The meaning of non-verbal behavior cannot be assumed.

28. Verbal Behaviors • Important to track who speaks to whom and how often each member speaks • There are ways, such as sociometry, a phenomenological methodology for investigating interpersonal relationships, that can be used to track speech patterns (Treadwell et al., 1997). • Important to pay attention to the Law of Triviality

29. Members’ Roles • A role is “a dynamic structure within an individual which usually comes to life under the influence of social stimuli or defined positions” (Munich et al., 1983, p. 20) • Usually different from the overall identity of individuals • Types of roles: • facilitative/building • maintaining • blocking (Capuzzi, 2010)

30. Members’ Roles • Problems in carry out roles: • Role collision • Role incompatibility • Role confusion • Role transition

31. Positive Group Variables • Curative (Therapeutic) Factors Within Groups • Instillation of hope • Universality • Imparting information • Altruism • Corrective recapitulation of the primary family group

32. Positive Group Variables • Curative (Therapeutic) Factors Within Groups (Cont.) • Development of socializing techniques • Imitative behavior • Interpersonal learning • Cohesiveness • Catharsis • Existential factors (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005)

33. Negative Group Variables • Avoiding conflict • Becoming narcissistic • Engaging in psychic numbing

34. LEARNING GROUP DYNAMICS • Learning to be a group leader or member requires knowledge of group dynamics that is both experiential and cognitive. • Such learning may take place in multiple ways. • Videotaping • Journaling • Outdoor experiences • Simulation games for team building • Sociometrics and Learning integration