Group Process

Dr. Eduardo Caligner, PhD.

 What is a Group?
• A collection of two or more
individuals who meet in a
face-to-face interaction,
interdependently, with the
awareness that each belongs
to the group and for the
purpose of achieving
mutually agreed-upon- goals.
 • It encompasses all types of activities performed
by organized groups-for example task/work,
guidance/psychoeducational, psychotherapy and
counseling/interpersonal problem solving.
• In earlier days, those performed by Social
Workers are called Group Work.

What about • A group work (ASW) is a broad professional

practice that refers to the giving of help or the
Group work? accomplishment of a task in a group setting. It
involves the application of group theory and
process by a capable professional practitioner to
assist an interdependent collection of people to
reach their mutual goals, which may be personal
or interpersonal or task-related in nature.
Uses of Groups
Prior to 1900
Prior to 1900, groups were generally formed for
functional and pragmatic reasons. Most groups
were large, and the primary emphasis in working
with groups was to distribute information.

Instruction and correction of behaviors were

focused on mainly through a psychoeducational
means.

Immigrants, the poor and the mentally ill were

among the populations receiving special attention
in large groups.

Group Formats were also employed to help

patients in hospitals and the needy in social
agencies discuss problems and share experiences..
Overall, the actual development of groups in the
late 1800s was adynamic movement which
included contributions from the emerging
disciplines of psychology, sociology, philosophy,
and education.

The group movement developed , not because of

one individual or discipline, but rather because of
the need for social reform and education.
Growth of Group Work-1900 to 1909

• Joseph Hersey Pratt started a psychotherapy group for

tuberculosis outpatients in 10905 at the Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston. He was one of the first to write
about the dynamics that occur within group settings, and
his work served as a model for other leaders exploring
processes within their group. Pratt started his group
primarily for humane and economic reasons.
• Pratt noticed that the patients in the group not only became
more concerned with each other overtime but also had a
positive influence on each other.
• In 1907, Jesse B. Davis, the principal
of Grand Rapids High School in
Michigan directed that one English
class per week be devoted to
“vocational and moral guidance.”
• After the death in 1908 of Frank
Persons, counselors in many guidance
settings, such as the Vocational
Bureau of Boston, began to see
vocationally undecided individuals in
small groups, as well as on a one-on-
one basis. The emphasis was to used
groups as a way of dispensing
information and providing
educational and vocational guidance.
 • The initial progress in group work slowed down
from 1910 -1919.
• However, military soldiers were instructed in
groups during WW1 to used psychological group
Group tests to recruit military service men and
differentiate them from each other.
Work from • Teamwork was emphasized, however , for both
1910-1919 civilian and military personnel.
• In 1916 to 1918, the focus was on individual and
individual achievement. It was influenced and
reinforced by Sigmund Freud’s individual
psychoanalysis theory. Although, Freud was
interested in groups, , the major emphasis of his
work was on interpersonal dynamics.
 Group Work from 1920-
1929
• Group guidance and counseling efforts were
initiated in a new form.
• A major breakthrough to the systematic use of of
groups in counseling can be attributed to Alfred
Adler. His form of group counseling was refereed
to as collective counseling and is reported to have
been used as early as 1922.
• He employed it with both prison and child
guidance clinics. In Vienna, children were
interviewed by a team of helping specialist such
as psychiatrist, psychologists and social workers.
Parenst and children were helped by a team to
realize that problems with children are usually are
related to problems in the family.
 • J.L. Moreno, a forerunner of psychodrama, later
influence other theorist like Fritz Perls, in the
founding of “Gestalt” and “William Schutz” in his
formation of “encounter techniques.”
• “Role –playing”, “stage center,” the emphasis on
the here-and-now interaction, the promotion of
The Theatre of catharsis, the focus on empathy, and the
encouragement of group members helping each
Spontaneity other, are incorporated in many forms of group
experiences today.
(1921) • The final significant occurrence during the 1920s
was the investigating of small group phenomenon
by social scientists.
• Researches began to learn what types of
interactions were the norm in small group
settings and how individuals were influenced by
groups.
 • 1. There was an increase in group guidance and
psychoeducational publications and practices.
Group work • 2. J.L. Moreno continued to write and make
creative presentations.
from 1930 to
• 3. There was an increase in the number and
1939 quality of field work studies by sociologists such
as Muzafer Sherif (1936), Theodore Newcom
(1943), and W.F. Whyte (1943)
• 4. The founding of the first major self-help
groups in America, the Alcoholic Anonymous.
• 5. A noteworthy phenomenon of the decade was
the movement of psychoanalytic treatment into
the group domain.
Group Work from
1940 to 1949
• Two major directions in the
formal development of groups
took place during this time:
• 1. The theoretical writings and
practices of Kurt Lewin and
Wilfred Bion, and,
• 2. the establishment of group
organizations.
Field Theory

Kurt Lewin (1940,1951) is generally recognized as the most influential

founder and promoter of group dynamics during this era. A refugee from
Nazi Germany, Lewin worked tirelessly to research and refine group
dynamics and sorrounded himself with energetic and brilliant people.
Lewin approach, field theory, emphasizes the interaction between
individuals and their environments. It’s based on the idea of Gestalt
psychology, in which there is an interdependence of part/whole relationship.
For Lewin, the group is a whole that is different from and greater than the
parts that compose it.
• Wildfred Bion, a psychoanalytically trained but
broke away from Freudian concepts, also stressed
the importance of group dynamics. To him, the
family is the is the basic group model.
• His focus was on group cohesiveness and forces
that foster the progression or regression of the
group. Bion found that he could characterize the
emotional pattern of a group as either a, “W” (work
group) or a “BA” (basic assumption activity).
• BA groups could be broken down further into three
sub-patterns:
• BA dependency (where members are
overdependent on the group leader).
• BA Pairing (where members are more interested in
being with each other than working on a goal), and,
• BA Fight-Flight (members become preoccupied with
either engaging in or avoiding hostile conflict)
 During the 1950s, group procedures began to be applied
to the practice of family counseling. Among the pioneers
in this group were Rudolph Dreikurs, who began working

Group with parent groups.

Work from Dreikurs employed Alfred Adler’s theory and ideas in

setting up these groups, which were primarily

1950 to psychoeducational.

1959 Another clinician, John Bell, also started using groups in

his work in family therapy. He conducted family therapy
sessions like group counseling sessions. He relied on
stimulating open discussions in order to solve family
problems, and, as in group counseling.
• A final trio of practitioners: Gregory Bateson,
Nathan Ackerman and focus was on modifying the
psychoanalytic model of group therapy to working
with families.
• Ackerman and Satir were more clinically oriented
and developed techniques for treating
dysfunctions in families.
• A group “vocabulary” was developed to describe
phenomena within group sessions. Example, the
term developmental group was initially used during
this decade by Richard Blake and Jane Mouton.
• As language and terms were developing, a shift
occurred in the type of groups created. Group
guidance began to wane in the late 1950s and was
replaced by group counseling as a major way to
bring about behavioral changes, especially in the
educational settings. Virginia Satir were significant
to this age. Their independence but similar
 • Group work especially, group counseling
and psychotherapy was popular in the
1960s. Many forms of GW were invented
or refine including encounter groups,

Group sensory awareness groups,, growth

groups, marathons and minithons. It
seemed to be a decade in which there

Work from was a group for everyone and everyone

was in a group.

1960 to
• Carl Rogers coined the term BASIC
ENCOUNTER GROUP, that later on
shortened to ENCOUNTER GROUP to

1969 describe his approach to group work,

which was basically an extension of his
theory of individual counseling.
• Encounter groups are often known as
PERSONAL GROWTH GROUPS because of
emphasis on personal developments.
• Marathon groups were first devised by George Bach and Fred Stoller in
1964 as a way of helping people become more authentic with themselves
and switch from the “marketing stance of role-playing and image-
making.”
• MG are usually held for extended periods of time, 24 or 48 hours, and
group members are required to stay together. Fatigue is an important
factor in the experience and as time goes by, they become tired and
breakdown in defenses and an increase their truthfulness.
• But with the popularity in groups came abuses. Many well-intended
individuals and some charlatans established groups with no clear ideas on
how to run them. As a result, some become casualties of the popularity
of the group movement.
• However, many good and important events occurred during this period.
Among the most popular theorists/ practitioners were those who took a
humanistic-existential orientation.
• Fritz Perls conducted workshops in California demonstrating his Gestalt
theory in group setting. He saw the individual as a figure who stood out
against the background of other group members.
• Eric Berne (64-66), his Transactional Analysis were readily displayed and
delath with in a group settings.
• A third and influential professional was William C. Schutz who
illustrated that individuals can take care of their interpersonal needs for
inclusion, control and affection and stressed the use of non-verbal
communications, such as touching or hugging in groups.
• A fourth influential theorist/practitioner of the 1960s was Jack Gibb, who
studied competitive versus cooperative behavior in groups. He discovered that
competitive in one person fostered competitive behavior in others, as well as
defensiveness.
• A fifth Humanistic Practitioner of the 6os was George Bach. It was Bach who
described the power of and need for group Marathons. He also devised creative
ways to help individuals in groups and marriages resolve conflicts by learning to
fight fairly.
• The most popular among them was Carl Rogers (1970). Rogers primarily applied
his individual person-centered approach to groups and focused on interpersonal
and intrapersonal dynamics. His concept promoted well a feeling of community
and connectedness.
Group
• Group Think was created by Janis (1971)
to emphasize the detrimental power that
groups may exert over their members to
conform. Janis showed that a group think

Work
mentality can be devastating to the
growth of individuals and the problem-
solving ability of the group.
• Group research came into prominence

from during this time. Particularly important

work was conducted by Yalom and
George Gazda.

1970-
• Yalom analyzed group methods and
processes and described eleven curative
(therapeutic factors) factors within groups
that contributed to the to the betterment

1979
of individuals. Yalom and Liberman found
that leadership style in groups greatly
influences how individuals fare in such
settings.
Group Work from 1980 to 1989
• This era, we saw the increase in popularity of
groups and group work. The American Group
Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) published a
collection of articles edited by James Durkin that
examined how the General Systems Theory (a
theory that emphasizes circular causality as
opposed to linear causality) could be utilized in a
group.
• Psychoeducational Groups also received increased
attention during this decade.
• George Gazda proposed the use of developmental
group counseling with multiple populations for
teaching basic life skills.
 • Group work continued to flourish.
Group Work • There was an increase in the number
of courses required in group work for
from 1990 up professional counselors.
to the Present • Specialty areas covered were a)
task/work groups, b)
guidance/psychoeducational groups,
c) counseling/interpersonal problem-
solving groups, d)
psychotherapy/personality
reconstruction groups.
• Parenting groups became more
popular and the number of
cooperative learning groups
increased.