Download Group Concepts

John A. Cagle
Define “small group.”
Small Group Definition
Berelson & Steiner:
“A small group is an aggregate of people,
from two up to an unspecified but not too
large number, who associate together in
face-to-face relations over an extended
period of time, who differentiate themselves
in some regard from others around them,
who are mutually aware of their
membership in the group, and whose
personal relations are taken as an end in
itself.”
Four Features of Group Life
Hare:
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The members share one or more motives or goals which
determine the direction in which the group will move.
The members develop a set of norms, which set the
boundaries within which interpersonal relations may be
established and actively carried on.
If interaction continues, a set of roles becomes stabilized
and the new group becomes differentiated from other
groups.
A network of interpersonal attraction develops on the
basis of the ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ of members for one
another.”
What are the major
types of groups?
Four Types of Small Groups
Berelson & Steiner:
the institutionalized small group, e.g., the family
► the small group within a large organization,
often called a mediating group because of its
linking position between the individual and the
organization, e.g., the work group in a factory or
office, a group of soldiers (buddies) in the army;
► the problem-solving group, e.g., a committee
with a task to perform; and
► the autonomous group, e.g., a circle of four
friends built on free choice and voluntary
association.
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What characteristics
does a group have?
Cartwright and Zander:
When a set of people constitute a group, one or more of the following statements
will characterize them:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
they engage in frequent interaction;
they define themselves as members;
they are defined by others as belonging to the group;
they share norms concerning matters of common
interest;
they participate in a system of interlocking roles;
they identify with one another as a result of having set
up the same model-object or ideals in their super-ego;
they find the group rewarding;
they pursue promotively interdependent goals;
they have a collective perception of their unity;
they tend to act in a unitary manner toward the
environment.
Define “communication.”
Communication
Newcomb, Turner, & Converse:
“For all practical purposes, the processes of
human interaction are communicative
processes. This is not to deny that persons
affect each other by the transfer of energy
as well as of information, but only to assert
that the kinds of interpersonal effects in
which we are interested, as social
psychologists, are mediated by
communication.”
Communication …a few definitions
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Communication is what is referred to when there isn’t a
breakdown in communication.
Communication is the verbal interchange of thought or
idea.
Communication is an “effort after meaning,” a creative
act initiated by man in which he seeks to discriminate
and organize cues so as to orient himself in his
environment and satisfy his changing needs.
Communication is simultaneous co-orientation.
Communication is the socially learned process occurring
when two or more persons are interacting by
transmitting and receiving visual and auditory stimuli
which are treated as symbolic cues to which meaning is
attached.
Interpersonal setting
Barnlund:
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Two or more individuals in physical proximity-- “perceptual
engagement.”
Each person begins to provide cues that are a direct consequence of
the cues supplied by the others--communicative interdependence.
Focused interaction proceeds through an exchange of messages.
 Coding requires the selection of appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues
or signs to express the internal state of the sender of the message.
 Coding must be accompanied by an imaginative interpretation of the
probable meaning to be assigned to the cues by the receiver.
Face-to-face encounters.
Largely unstructured--relatively few rules—norms, roles—that
govern the frequency, form, content of the interpersonal messages.
In summary, the study of interpersonal communication is concerned
with the investigation of relatively informal social situations in which
persons in face-to-face encounters sustain a focused interaction
through the reciprocal exchange of verbal and nonverbal cues.
Group setting
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Larger size of the group, producing profound qualitative differences
in expectations and behavior.
Clear and less permeable boundaries. One is usually aware of his
membership in a group. Exclusions prevent communication
altogether, while inclusion carries communicative rights and
obligations.
Groups are relatively more permanent. This is partly due to their
being formed to solve persistent environmental problems or to
satisfy continuing psychological needs. As a result, groups tend to
pursue long-term goals.
The size and permanence of groups, along with the complex tasks
that occupy them, combine to produce an elaborate internal
structure as well.
 The norms that evolve out of early interaction provide group members
with standards for assessing the appropriateness of later
communicative acts.
 Difference in ability lead to specialization of functions so that some
members repeatedly perform certain tasks; others are expected to
refrain from these tasks and to do others.
Hare, Borgata, & Bales:
“The study of small groups is . . . a method
for the study of social systems, of culture,
and of personality—all three. Its strategic
significance in the development of social
sciences generally is that it relates all three
of these types of structure to a common
base—the social process out of which they
arise and through which they change.”