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Group Terminology and Vocabulary
Autocratic Leadership: A form of leadership in which the leader uses directive forms
of communication to maintain control of the group. This type of leadership usually
inhibits the process of individual members finding their own way in the group. This type
of leader usually demands conformity and obedience, gives advice, and sees him/herself
as expert. The leader is usually charismatic and is most effective during times of crisis.
Blocking: A leader technique used to counteract non-productive group work. Leader
blocking must be done with sensitivity and skill in order not to come across as attacking
the individual. The leader should focus on the behavior and not the person. Corey
(1995) indicates that scapegoating, group pressure, and questioning behaviors impede
the group’s progress and therefore leader blocking is appropriate. Breaking confidence,
including privacy, giving undue amounts of advice, storytelling, and gossiping are also
behaviors that a leader should block. Blocking should not to be confused with the
"blocker" role that a group member might play. The blocker role is one where there is a
tendency to be negative and stubbornly resistant.
Boston Model: A group of social work theorists from the Boston University School of
Social Work developed a five-stage model of group development. These stages are:
preaffiliation, power and control, intimacy, differentiation, termination. This model was
developed and suggested for supportive treatment and socialization groups.
Capping: A term used to denote the easing away from emotional interaction and toward
cognitive reflection. Gladding (1995) identified this as one of three methods used to
assist the leader in the termination process of a group. The other two methods are setting
time limits and modeling appropriate termination skills in closing a group.
Charismatic Leader: This type of leader has an unusual amount of referent and
legitimate powers. Followers of charismatic leaders are trusting and tend to worship
them without reference to any social norm. Charismatic leaders tend to appeal to large
groups of people who are dissatisfied with some element of society or their living
environment.
Cohesion: Cohesion is a level of attraction for each of the other members. This
attraction is based on trust, respect, and mutual liking. A deeper level of cohesion is
when the group members feel a sense of togetherness as a separate but complete unit.
This is often referred to as a "We" feeling within the group.
Co-Leadership: A term frequently reserved for professionals who have been trained to
lead in tandem. Gladding (1995) indicates that co- leadership is not desired at all times;
however, in larger groups it becomes almost imperative.
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Conformity: Through group there are a set of social influences that can serve to change
members beliefs or actions. Higher levels of conformity usually improve the function of
a group.
Contagion: This is the transmission of cues by one or more group members that serve to
trigger similar thoughts, feelings of behaviors in other group members. It often causes
members to follow suit. Contagion has also been referred to a spontaneous pickup
imitation (Redl. 1949).
Critical Incidents: Gladding (1995) defines a critical incident in the group as "an event
that has the power to shape or influence the group positively or negatively" (p. 448).
Kottler (1994) summarized content writings of several authors who used terms such as a
group problem, problem behaviors, critical issues, and critical first-time behaviors to
illustrate the nature of critical incidents.
Dynamics: Group dynamics is used the study of behavior in groups regarding the nature
of groups and group development. It is a term to denote the interactions of individuals in
a group.
Emergent-Norm Theory: One of the theories to explain the Group Mind. This theory
suggests that a powerful norm emerges in a group and becomes the standard for behavior.
These are atypical norms, and what is conveyed is a sense of urgency transmitted through
a crowd by means of mood, imagery, and actions. These moods and actions are
considered right by the group, and members conform. This theory also asserts that
members are highly suggestible. These are norms that become relevant at the time, based
upon the makeup of the group. This type of norm emerges out of what is occurring and
can be understood in terms of the Group Mind.
Empowerment: Empowering an individual is to facilitate a process, the end result of
which is to help the individual gain a sense of worth, confidence, and competence.
Johnson and Johnson (1997) described a basic method by which an empowerment
process can be launched. The idea is to allow the individual to experience the power that
comes from making a choice. The group leader could facilitate this by helping members
develop a variety of alternatives and flexibility in helping the client through a decisionmaking process.
Encounter: Encounter is an existential term that entails a physical and psychological
contact in a group context. The encounter is usually referred to as encounter experience
and is of an intense nature between individuals. A result of a well facilitated encounter is
a greater sensitivity and individuals gain an interpersonal intimacy with one another.
Encounter groups engage members in small group experiences for the purpose of
fostering personal growth through sharing sensory exploration of intrapersonal and
interpersonal issues. (Eddy & Lubin, 1971, Lieberman, Yalom, and, Milea, 1973).
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Entitativity: Campbell (as cited in Foresight, 1990) suggests it takes three components
to make up a unified entity (group): common fate, similarity, and proximity. Entitativity
is framed when all members experience similar outcomes behaviors and are close enough
to one another to be considered as a group unit.
Farewell Party Syndrome: A behavior demonstrated by some members of the group
who desire to avoid what they have learned in the group. These members tend to
accentuate the positive aspects of what occurred in the group.
Firo: Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation. William Schutz developed his
instruments on the basis that people orient themselves towards people or away from
them. These instruments are called the FIRO-B and the FIRO-F for behavior.
Fishbowl: One method of the fishbowl is to form subgroups to monitor each other's
behavior. Each member on the inside circle is matched with a member on the outside
circle. The outside member will be observing to provide feedback, and conduct
interchanges, serve as an auxiliary ego to his or her partner, and perform any other task so
designed by the leader and members. The fishbowl is used to increase the awareness of
group members to the process of the group.
Group Composition: Group composition is the total sum of the group membership.
Group composition will, in large part, determine the potential for positive outcome of the
group process.
Group Conformity: Group members exert pressure in the form of influence upon one
another. This influence can be either positive or negative. In addition, group members
can change opinions or decisions towards the majority.
Group Dynamics: Group dynamics are the interpersonal interactions operating in a
group that serve to shape the nature of that group.
Group Mind: Gustave LeBon in publishing his study of The Crowd made reference to
the Group Mind, which appears as the antisocial behaviors of impulsiveness, irritability,
incapacity to reason, and exaggeration of sentiments. It was his opinion that members
who feel anonymous and invulnerable will succumb to behavior contagions, passing
emotions from one to another in a group, and are suggestible to a collective mind. There
are several different theories that have attempted to explain the phenomena, such as
convergence theory, emergent-norm theory, and deindividuation theory.
Group Process: Group process may be thought of as the interplay of group forces or
dynamics that allow the group to develope and move through specific stages of
characteristically distinct types of interaction.
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Group Themes: Cohen and Smith (1976) proposed that groups do not develope in
stages as much as they deal with different themes as they progress through a process.
These themes include: Anxiety, Power, Norms Relationships, Personal Growth, and
Interpersonal Interaction.
Group Think: A term claimed by Janis(1982) to reflect a decision-making process in
which defensive avoidance is the norm. Group think is the collective striving for
anonymity that overrides group members' motivation to realistically appraise alternative
courses of action (Johnson & Johnson, 1997). Janis believed this type of thinking leads
to mental inefficiency and ignoring of external information inconsistent with the favored
course of action. Janis used the Bay of Pigs, Pearl Harbor, and the Vietnam War to
illustrate how group think led to these outcomes (Janice, 1982).
Here and Now: A group state when members are interacting in and responding from
their experience in the moment. When the leader sets a norm of attending to the here and
now member stand the best chance of having a deep and genuine experience of
themselves, individual others, and the group. According to Yalom, leading groups in the
present allows greater amounts of space for member self-disclosure, giving and receiving
feedback, and enabling the group to engage in the reflective loop of group awareness and
processing that awareness.
Ice breaker: Icebreakers are introductory exercises and techniques designed to develop
communication between two or more individuals. These techniques are desired in that
they allow members to orient themselves to the others and to the group before sharing of
deeper intimacy.
Leveling: In communicating, the person receiving the message will reduce the amount
of information he or she has to receive by remembering less of the message. As a result,
the message becomes shorter and shorter, thus more concise and easier to grasp. When
the details are omitted, however, some of the original meaning may also be lost.
Kurt Lewin: Individually credited for the term "group dynamics." (You may wish to
read about Lewin's Field Theory to get a better idea of how the "dynamics" concept
evolved.)
Mandate Phenomenon: An individual will go against the leader-authority when he or
she feels the power of the group is behind him or her.
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Mindlessness: Elmes and Gemmill (1990) credit Langer and Piper with coining the term
"mindlessness," which refers to the "tendency of an individual to process information
sluggishly and to adhere to a rigid frame of reference that is inappropriate and inadequate
for coping with emerging issues" (p. 29). Langer and Piper studied the effects of
television viewing on cognitive processes. It was their contention that cognitions did not
fit the group mind concept (the collective group will deny and distort the inner and outer
realities). This repression and suppression (social defense against anxiety or complexity
and turbulence both inside and outside a group) of one's individuality and yielding to a
group mind was a part of the writings of Freud.
Norms: Behaviors which structure and regulate the performance of the individual's
future actions and judgments. Norming has developed when members have a "We"
feeling and subscribe to those rules both overt and covert. Several different types of
norms exist, such as prescriptive and proscriptive. Prescriptive norms are those that
encourage members to treat each other with dignity and respect. Proscriptive norms are
those norms that identify negative behaviors or attitudes that are to be avoided. A parity
norm is an equity norm suggesting that the payoffs should equal the amount of input to
the task.
Power: Power refers to the amount of influence or force a person can exert on a second
person, divided by the resistance by which the second person can apply to that force
(Lewin, 1951). Power in groups is most often applied to leadership type and style.
Forsyth (1990) refers to the basic power types as referent, reward, expert, coercive and
legitimate. Each of these types of power has associated power tactics (promise, reward,
threat, request, punishment, discussion, instruction, persuasion, persistence,
manipulation, evasion, disengagement). Power tactics can be categorized into one or
more of three areas: Directness - Direct and overt threats or demands; Rationality Persuasion with facts; and Bilaterality - Negotiation.
Premature Termination: Premature termination is when the individual or group quits
before the prescribed time or goal is reached. There are a variety of reasons why
members prematurely quit. One needs to develop skills to respond and to prevent
premature terminations.
Primary Group: A primary group is a small group in which there is face-to-face
interaction where the members adhere to interdependency and identify with each other.
Ringlemann Effect: As a group increases in size, it will become less productive
(Steiner, 1972).
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Self-Help Group: Self-help groups are developed by the membership to respond to a
multitude of common concerns. The primary purpose is to provide support and protect
members from psychological stress and urge them to change their existing conditions.
They are often leader-centered and can be of any size. Alcoholics Anonymous is a good
example of a self-help group.
Sociometry: A term developed by J. L. Moreno describing a technique for measuring
the social relationships linking group members. A sociogram is constructed from the
responses of group members (Forsyth, 1990).
Steinzor Effect: An interpersonal communication pattern of a group member speaking
immediately after the person across from him or her has spoken.
T-Group: T-groups started at the National Training Laboratory in Bethel, Maine and
were part of the human potential movement. The purpose of T-groups was the
development and understanding of theory, group dynamics, and group work.
Task Roles: A set of roles which members take on as they set about reaching the goal of
the group. These roles functions are aimed at accomplishing a particular task as opposed
to understanding the emotional aspects of group interactions.
Universality: Universality is one of the Puritan agents identified by Yalom and is
important in the early phases of group. Individuals learned that they are not unique and
the only person to have a particular problem. The group member learns that problems
exist and that people do get better.