A Programme of Group Relations Research: Emphasis on Inquiry and the Trial of Techniques

Abstract

The Chicago Center for the Study of Groups and Organizations (CCSGO), one of eight regional centres of the A.K. Rice Institute in the United States, is committed to advancing the understanding of groups and social systems through scholarship and research as well as through consultation, training and experiential study. Towards fulfilling this commitment, members of CCSGO have collected different kinds of data from members and staffs offive non-residential, weekend group relations conferences in the Tavistock tradition conducted at the University of Chicago Medical Center. This work at the University of Chicago has been developed in close collaboration with Solomon Cytrynbaum at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, whose programme of research on group relations has been conducted for more than ten years in that university's Department of Education and Social Policy. Several doctoral dissertations and published papers have been based on the Northwestern University data. Other doctoral papers and research presentations have analysed portions of the University of Chicago conference data (Bodensieck, 1989; Bradley, 1987; Lipgar, 1989); several more are in preparation. This report describes the research plan at the University of Chicago, the kinds of data being collected, the questions under investigation, and early findings.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bair, J. (1990) `The Effect of Members' Ego Styles on Psychoanalytic Work Processes in Small Groups', unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

Bion, W. (1961) Experiences in Groups. New York: Basic Books.

Bodensieck, R.A. (1989) `A Model for Differentiating Types of Change-Oriented Groups: Discussion, Application and Empirical Analysis', unpublished doctoral dissertation, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Bradley, D.A. (1987) `A Q-Methodology Study of the Conceptual Framework of Small Study Group Consultants', unpublished doctoral dissertation, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Brown, S.R. (1980) Political Subjectivity - Applications of Q Methodology in Political Science. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press.

Edelson, M. (1970) Sociotherapy and Psychotherapy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Granda, K. (work in progress) `The Impact of Consultant Frame of Reference on the Member-Leader Relationship in Small Groups', doctoral dissertation, Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

Lieberman, M.A. , Yalom, I.D. and Miles, M.B. (1973) Encounter Groups. New York: Basic Books.

Lipgar, R.M. (1968) `Toward a Revised Social Science: A Distinction Between Two Kinds of Knowledge', Psychotherapy, Theory, Research and Practice 5: 91.

10.

Lipgar, R.M. (1989) `Views of the Small Group Consultant's Role - A Q Methodology Study', presented at the Ninth A.K. Rice Institute Scientific Meeting (12-14 May), New York City.

11.

McGarrigle, E. (work in progress) `Ego-Ideals and Role Behavior of the Small Group Consultant', doctoral dissertation, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL.

12.

McKeown, B. and Thomas, D. (1988) Q Methodology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

13.

Stephenson, W. (1953) The Study of Behavior. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

14.

Stock, D. and Thelen, H.A. (1958) Emotional Dynamics and Group Dynamics. New York: National Training Laboratories, New York University Press.

15.

Thelen, H.A. (1985) `Research with Bion's Concepts', in M. Pines (ed.) Bion and Group Psychotherapy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.