The Comparative Effects Of Tape-Led, Led, And Leaderless Groups

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Content THE COMPARATIVE E F F E C T S OF
T A P E - L E D , L E D , AND L EA D E R L E S S GROUPS
by
Ramon M o ren o R io s
A D i s s e r t a t i o n P r e s e n t e d to th e
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
U N I V E R S I T Y OF SOUTHERN C A L I F O R N I A
In P a r t i a l F u l f i l l m e n t o f th e
R e q u ire m e n ts f o r t h e D egree
DOCTOR OF P H I L O S O P H Y
( E d u c a t i on)
J a n u a r y 1972
72-17,503
RIOS, Ramon Moreno, 1928-
THE COM PARATIVE EFFECTS OF TAPE-LED, LED, A N D
LEADERLESS GROUPS.
U n iv e rs ity o f S outhern C a lif o r n ia , P h .D .,
1972
E d u c a tio n , g uidance and co u n se lin g
University Microfilms, A X ERO X Com pany, Ann Arbor, Michigan
tuto nTccrPTATTCN HAS RFF.W MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED
UNIVERSITY OF SO U T H E R N CALIFORNIA
TH E GRADUATE SCHOOL
U NIV ERSITY PARK
LOS A N G E L E S. CALIFORNIA 9 0 0 0 7
This dissertation, written by
. .........RAMON M O R E N O RIOS.....................................
under the direction of Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Gradu
ate School, in partial fulfillment of require
ments of the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
Dean
DISSERTATION CO
PLEASE NOTE:
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
C hapter Page
I INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL BACKGROUND................... 1
C h aracteristics of the C o u n s e lo r............................................... I
C h aracteristics of Group Therapy ............................................ 4
Group D y n a m ic s ................................................................... 7
Group T h e r a p y ...................................................................... 11
Fam ily Groups ................................................................... 20
Experim ental Group ...................................................................... 24
II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................ 27
III THE PROBLEM .................................................................................. 46
IV METHOD AND PR O C ED U R E........................................................ 52
Control V a r i a b l e s ............................... 54
Experim ental D e s i g n ...................................................................... 55
Hypotheses To Be Tested ............................................................. 56
A ssessm ent Instrum ent ............................ 57
Statistical C o n sid e ra tio n s............................................................. 59
V RESULTS ........................................................................................... 61
VI DISCUSSION........................................................................................ 76
VII SUMMARY........................................................................................... 80
REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 83
A PPEN D IX ........................................................................................................ 88
i i
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL BACKGROUND
C h aracteristics of the Counselor
In the counseling profession, an assum ption that has always been made
is th at the m ajor factor bringing about therapeutic growth is the existence of
c ertain specific, advantageous c h arac te ristic s in the counselor. The value of
the counselor as a facilitative agent, capable of establishing an atm osphere
conducive to self-exam ination and reflection, is generally accepted by w rit
e rs in the counseling field. W olberg, for exam ple, sees counseling as a
technique that is practiced during the interview and leads to self-understanding
in the counselee. Counseling, W olberg says, "is custom arily defined as a form
of interview ing in which the client is helped to understand him self m ore com
pletely, in o rd er that he m ay c o rre c t an environm ental o r adjustm ent
difficulty." (1954, p. 12)
A rbuckle takes issue with the desirability of the counselor's lim iting his
ro le to that of a technician. In discussing the education of the counselor, he
re je c ts the tendency to view the counselor as "technique-bound": "The coun
selor is a learned person, not a technician, and thus techniques and skills
a re of m inim al im portance in his education." (1966, p. 145) He goes on to
advocate the necessity of the counselor's possessing certain qualities as
p arts of his own personal makeup, qualities he sh ares spontaneously with the
counselee. With this thought in mind, Arbuckle continues: "The purpose of
counselor education is to help to develop a genuine, self-actualized, em pa-
thetic individual, one who really is a counselor ra th e r than one that perio d
ically plays the co u n selo r's r o le ." (op. c i t . , p. 145)
O ther re se a rc h e rs attem pting to heighten the relativ e effectiveness of
the counselor view the counselor’s function as the fulfillm ent of definite needs
in the client for em otional nourishm ent. Carkhuff and Berenson take this
position, as they posit th eir view of the nature of clien ts' and p atien ts' needs:
"The clients and patients who seek out our inpatient and outpatient treatm ent
cen ters a re largely people who can not find sources of human nourishm ent in
th eir everyday life environm ents." (1967, p. 3) These w rite rs suggest that
th e re is evidence that persons designated as "m ore knowing" m ay have either
facilitative or retard an t effect upon the "less knowing". By "knowing" p e r
sons, Carkhuff and Berenson m ean those persons designated by society as
m o re skillful in counseling, o r possessing m ore knowledge in a related field
of specialization, than the "le ss knowing" (who would ordinarily be described
a s "laym en"). D octors, teach ers, psychotherapists, counselors, and c e r
tain parents a re som e of the persons they identify as "m ore knowing".
Carkhuff and Berenson also endorse the belief that the m ajor factor
contributing to the growth of the client is the existence of certain c h a ra c te r
istic s in the counselor. These c h a ra c te ristic s, they contend, a re independent
of the theoretical orientation of the counselor.
Although there has been considerable disagreem ent over what constitutes
the best orientation in the p ractice of counseling and psychotherapy, and
although views about the philosophical orientation and fram ew ork from which
the conflicting theoretical positions have em anated rem ain issu es in contro
v e rsy , the desirab ility of the m eeting of human beings in a special kind of r e
lationship is regarded as cen tral. A rbuckle, in a la te r essay , m akes the
point succinctly: "T h ere is general agreem ent that the counselor in his r e
lationship with a client is sharing of his self in a personal and human con
frontation with a fellow human being." (1967, p. 1)
W riting from a psychiatric point of view, H arry Stack Sullivan m akes
the sam e a sse rtio n , urging the establishm ent of a close human bond in the
therapeutic approach to the schizophrenic patient: "This form ulation of m ine
im plies the im portance of putting alm ost a scaffolding under the p atient's
self-sy stem in its relatio n to you--that is , the establishing of a "m e-you"
p attern , if you please, between yourself and the patient." (1956, p. 363)
This idea of the need for a m eeting between two people is cen tral to
the counseling relationship. In other w ords, only through the personal
involvem ent of the counselor is an encounter possible. G lasser speaks of
the desirable tra its of the th erap ist in the following way: "Finally, the
th erap ist m ust be able to become em otionally involved with each patient. To
som e extent he m ust be affected by the patient and his problem s and even
suffer with h im ." (1965, p. 23)
In sum m ary, it is generally agreed that confrontation between human
beings m ust take place if the counseling relationship is to be effective.
W hether we see the encounter as "sh arin g of the self", as establishing a
scaffolding (Sullivan's "m e-you" p attern), o r as that quality of em otional
involvem ent which m ay even include, as G lasser says, "suffering with the
client" (op. c i t . , p. 23), the position is gen erally m aintained that personal
involvem ent is required.
C h aracteristics of Group Therapy
The question of involvem ent becom es critic a l as we survey responsible
views of group therapy. G lasser sum s up his position on this issu e as it r e
lates to group therapy a s follows: "Although in group therapy the th erap ist
m ay become le ss involved with each m em ber of the group than he would in
individual treatm en t, this slight loss is m o re than com pensated for by the
p atien t's becoming involved with o thers in the g roup." (op. c i t . , p. 63)
It seem s, thus, that the counselor working in a group situation m ust
forego to som e re a l degree the m ore intim ate and effective relationship that
is possible in the individual counseling situation. On the other hand, m ost
counselors and w rite rs on this subject feel that group counseling is ap p ro p ri
ate and valuable, and, in som e instances, the m ethod of choice, because of
the unique advantages the group pro cess has to offer in helping persons to
change behavior.
The justification fo r the use of group counseling is based on the assum p
tion that the aim s of counseling a re achieved and that the helping relationships
which take place in one-to-one situations (those relationships which Carkhuff
and Berenson d escrib e between the "m ore knowing” and the " le ss knowing")
do indeed take place within the group (Goldman, 1962; W right, 1963). Ofman
has sum m arized this position; "The cru cial te st of w hether some re la tio n
ship is a counseling one o r not should be based on w hether the p ro cess is
based on principles related to behavior changes in relatively norm al p e r
sons, and whether the aim s of the p ro cess have been achieved. " (1963, p. 7)
If a group is to fulfill the aim s of the counseling relationship, certain
ch arac te ristic s a re n ecessary . F ir s t, it is n ecessary to differentiate
clearly between a group and a " m a ss " . C ontrasting the views of F reud with
the views of a m odern practitio n er will elucidate this difference, as well as
offer a glim pse at the possible reaso n s for which F reud did not explore group
psychotherapy. F reud seem ed to be convinced of the basically antisocial
nature of man. F o r him , man was determ ined and determ ined in such a way
that in ord er to live in society he had to re p re ss or sublim ate the im pulses of
a basic, a -p rio ri nature. Freud saw m an as eith er sublim ative or re p r e s
sive; thus, he saw m ass behavior as inherently dangerous, in that people
could easily reinforce each other in expressing heretofore re p re sse d a n ti
social behavior, taking advantage of the anonymity of the group. This fear
of the power of group behavior to rein fo rce antisocial im pulses is still
prevalent among som e people, even in the face of experim ental evidence to
the contrary. This conclusion is inevitable, and it is the logical conclusion,
if we s ta rt with a p rem ise that condemns m an to an im m utable, p re-ex isten t
nature. (F reud, 1922)
A group, on the other hand, has certain qualities that set it ap art from
a m ass o r mob. As Lifton put it, "The concept of a group mind as a unique
entity, that is, the sum of the people involved but responsible to no one, has
not become obsolete in popular thinking." (1967, p. 24) Lifton goes on to
define certain concepts that apply to groups, restatin g p ro perties L oeser
had also identified:
1. Dynamic interaction among m em bers
2. A common goal
3. A relationship between size and function
4. Volition and consent
5. A capacity for self-direction (Lifton, 1967, p. 24)
If we applied the above concepts to a group of th eater-g o ers, Lifton
says, we would find every ch arac te ristic satisfied, except the group's capac
ity for self-direction. Reacting on an individual basis to the perform ance
would not constitute a satisfacto ry c rite rio n , even if th ere w ere conscious
aw areness of the reactions of the other people. The c rite ria characterizing
a group capable of being therapeutic a re (1) an aw areness in each person of
every other p e rso n 's behavior in the group and (2) an acceptance by each
p erso n of responsibility for his own actions. This view is shared by other
w rite rs (Woolf and Woolf, 1953; Gordon, 1955). Amplifying the c h a ra c te r
istic s of the therapeutic group and offering a rationale for the com m onality of
concern, as well as identifying the functions of the group lead er, Ofmaa
w rites:
1. All m em bers of the group have a relativ ely common concern.
2. M em bers of the group identify with the common concern and this
has existential m eaning for them: they a re confronted with the
re a lity of the concern.
3. The counseling psychologist functions as a lead er, and is known
as such. However, he functions as a dem ocratic and group-
centered lead er. (Ofman, 1963, p. 8)
A b rief survey of the lite ra tu re of group dynam ics, group therapy, and
counseling and guidance in groups is now in o rd er. Exploration of the e x ist
ing theoretical basis of these fields will provide a fram e of referen ce within
which to define clearly the th ree different modes of group interaction that
have been the object of this study.
Group Dynamics
The "com m on concern" shared by persons in the group--the en co u n ter--
is a very im portant factor in the therapeutic process; self-exploration and r e
flection a re aided by the encounter. The encounter continually reaffirm s the
re a lity of the concern that the individual sh ares with the group. In term s of
social psychology, human behavior acquires m eaning only in relation to the
re a lity of human behavior factors that operate within a social setting (K rech,
C rutchfield, and Ballachey, 1962). Acceptable behavior is the firs t concern
of m ost people upon entering groups; the discovery of the lim its im posed by
others and the relationship of those lim its to self-im posed lim its constitute
the basic concern of the new com er to the group. The ensuing com pliance
with the re a l demands of the group offers the opportunity for the gratification
of the individual's need for affiliation. E rn est Hemingway's famous quotation
8
of John D onne--"T herefore, send not to a sk for whom the bell tolls, it tolls
for th ee"--tak es on a dram atic and existential re a lity when one of the m em
b ers of the group dies o r suffers g re a t injury. L ess dram atic but not le ss
re a l is the growing aw areness of the new com er to the group that the way he
sees him self is not n e ce ssa rily the way he is seen by the world a s re p re
sented in the m icro -so ciety of the group.
Although the individual m em ber joins the group with the d esire for the
group to m eet his needs and expectations, he usually m akes valuable co n tri
butions tow ard m eeting the needs of others. Before long, an egocentric
striv in g ends by resolving the human paradox: man can satisfy som e of his
m ost basic needs by satisfying those of oth ers. Lifton illu stra te s this con
cept (form ed, he adm its, from the thoughts of W ertenheim er, Rank, R osseau,
and others) in the following passage:
I want you to m eet my needs.
F o r you to be w illing to do so, I m ust give you
a reason for doing so.
It therefore follows that I can only m eet my needs
a fte r I have fir s t considered yours.
I have learned then that I can s ta rt out being
as selfish as I like, but I cannot achieve
my goal without considering how others will
respond. (Lifton, 1967, p. 29)
The group allows the person to establish affiliations within the group
and to derive satisfaction from the resu ltan t sense of belonging. Belonging to
the group allows him to persuade, in some d ire c t and indirect ways influence,
and aid in the actualization of an o th er's potential; playing another p erso n 's
ro le is an im portant m otivator for the p erso n 's d e sire to join a group
(Glanz, 1962).
The nature of the interaction among the m em bers of groups determ ines
the quality of the therapeutic function. Such elem ents as style of leadership,
w illingness to experience change, and cooperativeness a re a few of the v a ria
bles m ost w rite rs in the field of group dynam ics feel a re strong influences
upon the therapeutic effectiveness of the group. Was sell, speaking from a
psychoanalytic orientation, sum s up the dynam ics that operate to cause
change in his patients by using the term "involvem ent". Although W assell's
w ork is heavily perm eated with the theoretical assum ptions of psychoanaly
sis, he ex p resses the existential quality elicited by the reality -testin g a r i s
ing from the sharing of common concerns. He points out, "With the stren g th
ening of selfn ess, the person can b etter accept his basic dividedness, and in
experiencing it through deep involvem ent, decide which road in life he even
tually wants to tra v e l." (1966, p. 220)
The identification and classification of group p ro cesses and ro le s has
been the concern of a num ber of investigators of group dynam ics. Since
the now -classic study of Lippit and White was published (in T. M. Newcomb
and E. L. H artley, E d s ., 1947), many studies have been d irected toward
defining the qualities of the lead er. Benne (1964) sees the le a d e r's involve
m ent as consisting m ainly of not protecting the m em bers of the group
from re a lity , but, instead, supporting them in facing the re a lity of self and
10
others. He also believes that the le ad e r's involvem ent m ust include a
w illingness to have his own re a lity challenged.
An interesting early study by Chowdry and Newcomb (1957) identified
leadership qualities in group m em bers through sociom etric q uestionnaires.
The potential leaders thus identified w ere m ore com m unicative, less self-
centered, and m ore aw are of the emotional clim ate of the group. In short,
the persons rated highly as potential lead ers displayed a la rg e r "perceptual
field"' th eir levels of sensitivity and empathy w ere higher than those of the
individuals identified as non-leaders.
Effective communication is the foundation upon which re s ts the effective
ness of any group with a common concern. Communication allows the p a r
ticipants to discover the needs of others and to form ulate th eir own; ideally,
the expression equals the im pression, o r, in term s of sem antics, the inten
tional m eaning equals the extensional m eaning. This ideal is seldom reached,
for the re a lity of one person is usually entirely different from that of any
other.
Because of the im portance of com m unication, Gordon (1964) sees the
lead er as providing the links that join together p artial com m unications which
would otherw ise rem ain fragm ented. The lead er acts as such a link, Gordon
say s, when the leader reflects and clarifies the statem ents of the group p a r
ticipants. Stoller, speaking of the group experience that can be elicited by
an effective lead er, explains: "R ather than technical m anipulation on the
11
p a rt of the group lead er, the m arathon is conceived as an experim ent in
intim acy, with honesty, d irectn ess, and im m ediacy of response, and the d e
m and for change within the situation being deliberately fo ste re d ." (1970,
p. 94) This view posits the le a d e r's responsibility for aiding the estab lish
m ent and m aintenance of an atm osphere that w ill produce intim acy, honesty,
and im m ediacy of response. Although Stoller is speaking of the leader sp e
cifically within the context of the m arathon, the w rite r believes that the term
"m arathon" m erely identifies a specialized form of the basic group process;
thus, S to ller's statem ent can be regarded as applicable to group counseling
p ro c e sses of sh o rte r duration. The lead er, in this context, is essen tial in
that he is responsible in larg e p a rt for providing the m eans through which
com m unication can take place. R eflecting and clarifying the statem ents and
behavioral m anifestations of the c lie n ts, he acts a s a cataly st in achieving
the intim ate level of com m unication that is conducive to beneficial change in
behavior.
Group Therapy
Because the h isto rical origins of group therapy a re untraceable in the
interactions among human beings since tim e im m em orial, for the purposes
of this b rief review only the w ork of individuals who have become w ell-
known in the field w ill be considered; th eir positions and ideas will be r e
viewed briefly.
D r. J. H. P ratt, an in tern ist treating tuberculosis patients in the early
p a rt of the century, began instructing groups of patients in the care of th eir
12
convalescing bodies p rio r to th eir re le ase . Although it is said that P ra tt's
w ork was considered an instructional pro ced u re—a " c la s s" --h is efforts a re
believed to have created one of the f ir s t identifiable group therapy m ilieus.
Gazda says of P ratt, "It is quite likely that P ratt began to understand and ap
p reciate the psychotherapeutic effects of one person on another in his "class"
o r "thought control" approach to group therapy only after he had read
D ejerin e's w ork (perhaps as early as 1913)." (1970, p. 7) O ther early fig
u re s involved in group therapy include E. W. L azell and L. C. M arsh, both
p sy ch iatrists, the la tte r having entered psychiatry a fte r a c a re e r as an
Episcopal m in ister. These th erap ists largely used inspirational lectu res
as the mode of group leadership. M arsh involved institutional staff m em bers
in the therapy of his patients. His use of m usic, dance, a rt, and group d is
cussions seem s to have rep resen ted the firs t recorded effort in the develop
m ent of the therapeutic team .
T rigant Burrow, another figure in the early m odern developm ent of
group psychotherapy, was concerned with the interaction of social forces and
individual behavior. The concurrent study of fam ily, friends, and patient he
called "phyloanalysis". B urrow 's therapeutic approach has not found much
support in this country, but has been a treatm en t of choice in the Soviet Union.
Soviet psychotherapists have placed g reat em phasis on the physiogical aspects
of treatm ent and in sist on re stric tio n s of the p atien t's life-sty le to achieve
hygienic objectives such as diet and re s t. The other theoretical position
13
prom inent in Soviet psychology is M arxist sociology, which assigns g re a t im
portance to the investigation of the patien t’s life circum stances. The Soviet
psychotherapist obtains inform ation about the patient’s social relatio n s, vo
cational adjustm ent, and all other environm ental factors he deem s n ecessary
for obtaining an anam n esis. This inform ation is elicited not only from the
patient, but also from re la tiv e s, friends, and co-w orkers.
An exem plary exponent of the m ethods practiced in Soviet psychotherapy
is P rofessor E. K. Yakovlyeva, whose views a re quoted by D r. Isidore
Z iferstein. Speaking of m ental illn ess, the R ussian p ro fesso r w rites: "The
basic method of treatin g these illn esses is psychotherapy, combined with
som atotherapy. Experience shows that the m ost effective method of psycho
therapy is deep or rational psychotherapy, a system which, in co n tradistinc
tion to other authors, stem s from an investigation of the re a l-life h istory of
the patient and his experiences, and has the aim of re -stru c tu rin g his in te r
personal relations and helping him tow ard a constructive resolution of his
life-p ro b lem s." (1961, p. 221)
Many psychotherapists in the United States have developed activity
therapy, which they have im plem ented in group settings. Until the m id-
th irtie s , v ery few a rtic le s dealing with group therapy w ere listed in a leading
psychiatric journal (P rogress in N europsychiatry). From the 1940's to date,
the field has grown rapidly, and exhaustive review is extrem ely difficult.
One of the v ery active w rite rs in the field of group psychotherapy, Helen E.
D urkin, explained the problem that the rapid growth of this field poses: "The
14
m ovem ent has m ushroom ed so rapidly that conceptualization has not kept
pace with p ra c tice ." (1968, p. 115)
The m odern view of the group-therapy approach is based on the assum p
tion that m ost behavior disturbances stem from o r a re related to inflexible
m odes of interrelated n ess that encourage confusion o r incongruence between
the emotion perceived and the behavior displayed. F ran k and Powderm aker
(1959) point out that the personality of a person is fixed, in varying degree,
through his group relatio n sh ip s, and they realize the im portance of the group
influence on the patient. Goldman a s s e rts that interp erso n al relations are
explored within the group setting; Sullivanians, he says, see the group "as
an effective laboratory to explore and vividly verify one's patterns of in te r
personal reaction as a prelude to learning th eir h isto rical perspective and
eventually changing one's beh av io r." (1957, p. 387).
Among the "action-oriented" therapies that have been developed and
im plem ented in group settings is "psychodram a". D r. J. L. Moreno is c re d
ited with applying the technique of dram atizing the em otional conflict in a
group setting. Durkin re la te s that M oreno's technique was developed while
working with pro stitu tes in Vienna during W orld W ar I. When verbal d iscu s
sion with his clients did not prove successful, and the need for the estab lish
m ent of viable groups becam e c le a r, M oreno developed a method of organizing
his groups in accordance with sociom etric data. By studying answ ers to
questions probing the likes and dislikes of group m em bers for one another,
15
Moreno collected data that explained a large p art of the dynam ics of the
group interaction. (Durkin, 1968)
Although Moreno was trained in the m edical model of psychotherapy,
he does not consider him self psychoanalytic; in fact, according to D urkin,
"He is generally antipsychoanalytic (he p re fe rs to call him self suprapsycho-
analytic) as to method, although he accepts som e of the b etter-estab lish ed
concepts." (op. c it., p. 324) In his w ork with p ro stitu tes, M oreno becam e
aw are of the therapeutic effect of acting out the em otional states. Many of
the problem s stem m ed from prim al em otional situations about which his
clients w ere unable to speak but, instead, acted out. Instead of regarding
"acting out" as a form of re sista n c e, the therap ist employing psychodram a
sees it as a therapeutic instrum ent.
M oreno's form ulation of psychodram a req u ires a stage of "w arm ing up".
During this period the leader helps in the selection of problem s and encour
ages subjects to act out the dram a of the em otional conflict. A fter this period,
the "production" stage is reached, at which tim e the lead er becom es a passive
participant. His patients become the actors; m em bers of the group eith er
participate actively in ro les that deal with the life situation being enacted or
experience the life-d ram a vicariously. A fter the production has taken place,
intervention of the leader guides the group into a full discussion. At this
point, the th erap ist is spontaneous and does not hesitate to express his
feelings, whether supporting o r confronting.
16
The dynam ics of the group p ro cess described as therpaeutic a re not e s
sentially different from those of non-therapeutic groups. The task orientation
of the therapeutic group is the change of personality. The insights that p sy
chology and psychotherapy offer add the dim ension that sep arates therapeutic
from non-therapeutic groups. The principal skill of the psychotherapist is
h is insight into the needs of the m em bers of the group. Lifton m akes a clear
statem ent on the qualities d esired in the leader: "F o r our purpose, it does not
m a tte r why the group convenes o r how logical o r rapid th eir deliberations a re .
The skilled group leader learns to go below the surface ch atter to see the
ever p resen t needs of each individual. " (1967, p. 4)
In this p a rtic u la r case Lifton is speaking of the qualities of a lead er of a
group that has been a rb itra rily assem bled for dem onstration purposes. The
skill of the group leader is m ost clearly displayed by m eans of a verbatim
tran scrip tio n of the group exchanges, with a p arallel column for com m ents.
These com m ents clarify how the leader cuts a cro ss the superficial exchanges
and detects feelings of hostility, anxiety, and tension as the group finally a r
riv e s at the conclusion that sim ple aw areness of the content of th eir com m un
ications cannot provide a common denom inator without a concom itant aw are
n ess of th eir feelings.
Bonner sees the therapeutic effect of the leader as making possible the
m obilizing of the group m em b er's potential: "The group therapeutic process
is a dynamic group experience in which persons with a v ariety of psychological
17
deficits learn to identify them selves with the th erap ist and other clients. In
the p ro cess of identification they learn to accept others because they are
w arm ly accepted by o th ers, p articu larly the th erap ist. The therapeutic
group, in sh o rt, is a device for m obilizing all the individual's potential r e
so u rces, especially his emotions and newly gained insights for making him
a t one with him self and his fellow human beings. " (1959, p. 473)
With the preceding background, it appears that the advantage of the
group is the sharing of feelings, which prom otes acceptance and understand
ing among group m em bers. Another advantage seem s to be that, in o rd er to
m aintain and enhance his personal status in the group, the individual striv es
fo r a higher level of participation and integration in the group.
The popularity of group pro cess in general has m ade it a mode of coun
seling used for aiding students in th eir adjustm ent to school requirem ents
(Bennet, M ., 1955; Glanz, 1962; Lifton, 1954; Pepinsky, 1949; Zlatchin,
1955). Ofman has found that students volunteering for groups significantly
im proved th eir grade-point averages. He states: "It was concluded that the
study habits sem inar as a group counseling technqiue was effective in im
proving scholastic p e rfo rm an ce." (1963, p. 3)
The use of group p ro cess and group dynam ics has lent itself to the de
velopm ent of m ethods specifically appropriate for classroom situations. To
reduce conflicts and deal constructively with apathy and re stle ssn e ss, som e
teach ers adapt techniques of group counseling and view the class as a working
18
group. The teach er is thereby finding ways to in crease the le a rn e r's re a d i
n ess to undertake new ideas and new attitudes. An advocate of group pro cess
in the classro o m , Luft suggests what a teacher m ay do to accom plish som e
of the goals of group counseling in a scholastic setting: "One teacher might
be able to change the group atm osphere by asking the c lass what is going on,
what it is they feel, so that all can face the ongoing reactions m ore openly.
A rithm etic o r reading lessons m ay stop tem porarily, so that pupils can ex
p re ss them selves and thereby w ork on m eeting o r resolving em otional needs. "
(1963, p. 49)
In a joint pro ject, Lodato, Sokoloff, and Schwartz found that group
counseling is successful in modifying negative attitudes among slow le arn ers;
th eir resu lts dem onstrate that the attitude change effected in th eir students
enables the students to function m ore effectively in the school. These authors
sum m arize their findings as follows:
1. Positive changes in attitudes toward learning and toward authority
figures w ere observed in a larg e m ajority of the students, as
judged by teach er ratings on a behavior and attitude scale.
2. In crease of self-concept of m ost of the students, as indicated by
figure-draw ing projectives.
3. Significant im provem ent in the attendance reco rd s of the students
in the study.
4. Satisfactory integration of many of the students into reg u lar c la s s
room s, following the study.
5. Increased tolerance, insight, and understanding by classroom
teach ers of students who presen t these kinds of difficulties.
(Lodato, Sokoloff, and Schwartz, 1968, p. 40)
19
H a rris and T ro tta, working with bright but non-achieving 12-y ear-o ld
children for nine sessions of one hour and fifteen m inutes' duration, found
that "W hile they the students showed little change in group behavior, th eir
classroom attitude an d /o r grades im proved." (1968, p. 279)
In a chapter dealing with the counseling of adolescents in groups, Ohlsen
re se a rc h e s the lite ra tu re and d istills a s e rie s of needs that he proposes
should be the general goals of adolescent group counseling. In general, these
needs a re concerned with authority, sensitivity, self-acceptance, acceptance
of o th ers, and social sk ills. Speaking of guidance groups in the schools,
Ohlsen states that the school counselor should take the initiative in organizing
discussion groups, but eventually he should p rep are the teach ers to accept
responsibility for those groups. Ohlsen s tre ss e s the need to clarify the
topic of discussion thus: "As with the introduction to group counseling, best
re su lts a re achieved when the lead er describes the nature of such discussion
groups, th eir objectives, what is expected of p articip an ts, and how m em bers
should select th eir own to p ics." (1970, p. 211)
As has been stated before, the group pro cess is being used in a variety
of settings and for a v ariety of objectives. In the field of m edicine, we have
seen P ra tt's w ork (1917) evolve into m odern experim ents such as those with
card iac patients (Mone, 1970). In the field of education, the group p ro cess
has evolved from a stric tly uninvolved pedagogical activity to active involve
m ent in the affective developm ent of the student. The field of fam ily relations
20
has also m ade increasingly extensive u se of the therapeutic capabilities of
the group p ro cess. The groups that w ere the subject of this study fall into
this category, counseling for fam ilies or other homogeneous groups, and a
b rief exam ination of the lite ra tu re in this specific field will be of value h ere.
Fam ily Groups
The rationale for group counseling o r therapy with fam ily units is
rooted in the belief that the fam ily group is a dynamic entity, a system im
m ersed in, generating, and reacting to continuous p re ssu re s. When con
sidered as component p arts of a whole, the relationships among fam ily m em
b ers become m ore am enable to understanding (D reikurs and Soltz, 1964;
Bowen, 1961; Guerney, 1964; F u llm er and Bernard, 1956). The focus of
fam ily-oriented therapy is to help m em bers of the fam ily adapt to th eir life
situations in constructive ways. This is usually attem pted by offering in
sights into the different relationships within the fam ily constellation—paren t-
p aren t, parent-child, child-child, ch ild-teacher. The th erap ist helps m em
b ers of the fam ily see how they behave tow ard each other; he attem pts to
im prove com m unications; and he encourages modes of behavior that prom ote
feelings of belonging.
Ohlsen takes a dim view of long-term fam ily therapy. Of the th erap ist,
he says: "He helps m em bers of a fam ily learn to face and deal with their
conflicts, to express th eir re a l feelings for each other (positive as well as
negative), and to provide encouragem ent for each other. He trie s to help
21
them discover how they h u rt each other with self-rig h teo u sn ess, nagging,
and discouraging behaviors . . . " (1970, p. 219) And la te r, "When one or
m ore m em bers req u ire m ore help than can be provided within a reasonably
sh o rt tim e (say eight w eeks), then the th erap ist trie s to help the m em bers
of the fam ily understand why this additional treatm ent is needed and what
they can do to rein fo rce changed behavior during treatm ent and a fte rw ard ."
(op. c i t ., p. 219)
When we view the fam ily as a unit we become aw are of difficulties
brought about by joint resistan ce to recognizing the pathological ro les of
individuals within the fam ily. This resistan ce is not encountered in groups
not fam ilially related. R esistance within fam ily groups has been noted
(Handlon and Parloff, 1962), and answ ers a re being form ulated within the
model of individual psychotherapy--that is, the fam ily group is considered
the client and the m em ber who com es to the attention of the psychotherapist
is considered the symptom of the client.
The increasing popularity of counseling o r psychotherapy for couples
has resu lted from this insight into working with the couple as an entity.
Durkin explains, "They the psychoanalysts reaso n that in the course of
treatm ent, the patient will gain sufficient ego-strength to deal with the m em
bers of his fam ily, and that, in any event, his ultim ate goal is to find an in
dependent life for him self. This does not hold tru e , of course, for m arried
couples, and the husband o r wife was often advised to go into analysis with
22
another th e ra p ist." (1968, p. 334) L a te r, Durkin adds that, because n e u r
otic individuals usually choose th eir p a rtn e rs to satisfy th eir unconscious
needs, groups com posed of m a rita l couples a re now quite common.
The basic p rereq u isite for th erap ists working with fam ily groups, in the
view of w rite rs in this field, is an understanding of the methods employed to
m aintain hom eostasis in the fam ily. These w rite rs hypothesize that intricate
pathological system s a re built within the fam ily c irc le in o rd er to m aintain
psychological balances. W riters in this field ( e .g ., Jackson and Weakland,
1961; F ram o , 1965) a re aw are of two basic variables which produce path
ological o r delinquent persons within a fam ily:
1. The sev erity of pathological system s built to m aintain hom eo
sta sis in the fam ily (which these w rite rs identify as schizo-
phrenogenic)
2. The "double bind" (which they define as the habitual sending and
receiving of incongruent o r conflicting m essag es, on different
levels of perception)
To achieve com m unication within these fam ilies, some counselors
avoid au th o ritarian advice-giving and concentrate on bringing into focus the
pathological system s that exist in the fam ily, clarifying statem ents and
form ulations to elim inate double-bind situations.
F ram o speaks of the value of fam ily therapy in the prevention of d elin
quency as follows: "The ultim ate value of fam ily therapy probably lies in
the a re a of prevention; the children in the treated fam ilies who will m arry
and form fam ilies of th eir own will have a g re a te r capacity to form healthy
23
fam ily liv in g ." (1965, p. 210) Advocating intensive fam ily therapy as an
approach to psychological balance, T ait and Hodges (1962) have recom m ended
the establishm ent of therapeutic com m unities for problem fam ilies.
Rodman and G ram s, whose orientation is tow ard pragm atic im plem en
tation of controls on the behavior of m em bers of the fam ily, see the th e ra
peutic p ossibilities of the group pro cess in the rehabilitation of fam ilies of
delinquents. They advocate "facing reality" (another way of expressing the
treatm en t of choice) by exposing the m anipulative m aneuvers designed to
m aintain hom eostasis and the incongruency of perceived, habitual in tra -
fam ily com m unications. In th eir w ords, "The guided group interaction p ro
g ram s im pose them selves d irectly upon the delinquent, by forcing him into a
treatm ent situation in which he is surrounded by his p e e rs, and in which he
m ust come to term s with re a lity ." (1967, p. 217)
Parent sem inar groups a re used to help parents understand th eir ch il
dren as well as learn m ore effective ways of making them into effectively
functioning social beings. The general th ru st of parent sem inar groups is
to persuade parents to listen , to experience th eir feelings, and to em pathize
with other m em bers of the fam ily in o rd er to develop better ways of dealing
with fam ily p ro b lem s.
Some th erap ists have advocated the teaching of techniques of "play
therapy" to parents during group sessions with other p aren ts. Extensive use
of bibliotherapy is common in the parent sem in ars, w here lectu res and
24
discussions spur the active participation of the parents. The objective is to
le a rn from the didactic presentation and to encourage the parents to accept
responsibility for th eir behavior, p articu larly the habitual destructive behav
io r they display within the family.
Experim ental Group
We can now see that parent sem inars in a group setting, which w ere
the basis for the experim ent described in this paper, a ro se on the basis of
principles set by group dynam ics, group psychotherapy, and counseling. The
population subject of the cu rren t study is a group of parents of children in the
E ast Los Angeles a re a . This study was begun in 1967 as a re su lt of the in
te re s t m anifested by a few m others concerned about academ ic-enrichm ent
c lasses for their children. The num ber of parents involved grew from 67
in 1967 to 586 in the spring of 1971. This development will be elaborated
la te r.
The conditions that em erged from the above-review ed disciplines served
as a tem plate for the organization of the parent sem in ars. These conditions
can now be sum m arized.
1. F o rm at of the Groups
a. The parents m eet in a sm all group. Groups may vary in
size but m ay not exceed 12 persons.
b. The m em bers of the group a re homogeneous in term s of
in te re sts; they all have children who attend school in the
a re a , and they want to acquire com m unications skills in
o rd er to deal m ore effectively and constructively with
th eir fam ilies.
25
c. The lead er assigned to each group is a graduate student
from the counseling departm ent of the U niversity of
Southern C alifornia.
d. The lead er acts as a facilitator; he does not teach and he
does not p u rp o rt to be an expert in ch ild -rearin g . He does,
how ever, actively fo ster comm unication; he also points out
discrepancies o r incongruencies and generally engages in
any therapeutic activities he feels will prom ote u n d er
standing and acceptance of self and of others among the
group participants.
2. Clim ate and N ature of the Interactions Within Groups
a. Acceptance of self and of o thers is one of the goals of the
groups; thus, involvem ent and w arm th a re em phasized.
Confrontation is not discouraged, but full discussion and
understanding of the dynam ics is at all tim es sought.
b. T here is no lecturing by any group m em ber o r lead er d u r
ing the group tim e; no one is considered to be an expert,
and every person in the group is considered to be a poten
tial source of em otional "nourishm ent” and inform ation.
c. The em phasis is in the "h ere and now"! insights that a re
explored a re questions that can be form ulated with the word
"w hat", not "w hy".
d. The leader describ es in the fir s t m eeting the objectives of
the group's activity, his expectations, and the d esirability
of the p a ren ts' producing th eir own m aterial to w ork
through.
The advantages gained by this setting a re listed below, contrasted with
the advantages o r disadvantages of other counseling settings:
1. Sharing th eir views in a life-lik e setting, group m em bers a re in
effect natural neighbors, and they sh are common environm ental
experiences. Thus, they help each other in making decisions
with personal understanding of the decision environm ent.
2. The parent group ex erts a m ore powerful influence on the indi
vidual m em ber than books on ch ild -rearin g o r lectu res by experts
26
because of the confrontation by p eers and the support of others
with common co n cern s.
3. The group situation affords the person involved a place to express
his opinions as well as the opportunity to evaluate o th ers' opinions
m ore read ily than in lectu re groups.
4. The group situation allows the individual to experim ent with the
playing of the ro les of another m em ber of his fam ily, o r even
of another m em b er's fam ily.
5. The exchange of support with the p articip an t's p eers allows him
to form ulate a satisfying relationship with his children and a
better understanding of his ro le as the agent in the socialization
of the child.
6. The counselor is able to reach m ore people effectively.
7. Hidden problem s that have impeded the p erso n 's growth often
become identifiable and individual therapy usually is sought.
As can be seen, p arent sem inars constitute a counseling experience
that utilizes the insights derived from group dynam ics, group therapy, and
counseling. In sh o rt, these sem inars are the re su lt of the m elding of r e le
vant principles drawn from each of these fields to aid parents in leading m ore
effective lives and in becoming m ore effective, m ore constructive p aren ts.
27
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
In the introductory chapter, we have established a firm and rational
basis for the conclusion that group-oriented therapeutic techniques constitute
an effective m eans of influencing behavior and prom oting personal growth.
The many variations in the basic group p ro cess can be used to prom ote
g re a te r understanding of self and o th ers, m ore effective interpersonal com
m unication, closeness, and a generally im proved em otional state. The in
vestigation rep o rted h ere is concerned with the com parative evaluation of
th ree specific group procedures and the effects of each procedure on a p e r
so n 's view of him self both in relation to him self and in relation to others.
The relativ e effectiveness of the th ree types of groups investigated--groups
using E ncountertapes, groups using lead ers, and groups without a le ad e r--
has become a topic of g reat in terest to many investigators now involved in
isolating, m easuring, and describing the factors contributing to the effec
tiveness of each type of group.
A review of the lite ra tu re concerning lead erless groups rev eals a sub
stantial num ber of groups of different orientations and objectives. System
atic observation and evaluation of groups that have been guided by recorded
tapes ra th e r than leaders has been sp arsely reported in the literatu re; m ost
im portantly, com parisons between led and unled groups have been form ulated,
but com parisons between "tape-led" groups and other groups a re few and,
28
fo r the m ost p a rt, inconclusive. Many studies of lead erless groups concern
them selves with the use of the group as a tool in the serv ice of persons o r ob
jectives external to participants. F o r exam ple, questionnaires and other
techniques have been applied to groups to select sup erv iso rs o r job appli
cants (F ile, 1945; Sartain, 1946; Sinaiko, 1949). O ther investigations have
used sociom etric data obtained from groups for the appraisal of specific qual
ities; for exam ple, leadership.
M ore than 20 y ears ago, B. M. Bass (1949) used a technique co rrelating
sociom etric data with in d irect observation to select leaders from two groups
of students. Inasm uch as B ass's w ork points, by im plication, to several im
portant interaction functions that will take on different form s in a lead erless
group, a brief review of his w ork is in o rd er.
To obtain candidates for leadership, Bass enlisted 20 students in educa
tional psychology and divided them into two groups, A and B, consisting of 10
persons each. Of the 20 students, 12 w ere men and 8 w ere women; all w ere
random ly assigned to the two g ro u p s. Group A m et with the stated objective
of seeking the solution to a problem that was presented to them by the ex
p erim en ter. Group B watched group A. The ro les of the two groups w ere
then rev ersed ; that is, group A watched group B attem pt to solve the problem .
P articipants in both groups w ere asked to ra te both the m em bers of th eir
own group and the m em bers of the other group in term s of leadership. The
10 participants of the two groups who w ere cum ulatively rated highest in the
29
p ersonal attrib u tes constituting leadership m et in a th ird group, C, which
was observed by those who had been ra te d the low est. These low est rated
students then m et for a fourth session; finally, the original groups (A and B)
m et for two additional sessio n s.
In preparation for this experim ent, the participants w ere told that they
would be graded not only on the extent and effectiveness of their individual
perform ance, but on the g roup's perform ance; consequently, if they felt that
anyone was im pairing the group's perform ance, it would be to th eir advan
tage to "cut in, and get the group in its pro p er assignm ent. " The hypothe
ses w ere drawn as follows:
1. If an initially lead erless group is given a verbal problem , with
suitable m otivation to cooperate and achieve a solution to a
problem , a differentiation of functions w ill occur within the
group.
2. In a lead erless group discussion, one task m ay be assum ed by
sev eral people; m ore than one task m ay be assum ed by one p e r
son; and som e tasks m ay not be perform ed a t all. These tasks
include: form ulation of the problem and goals; organization of
the group's thinking; clarifying o th er individual responses; in
tegrating the p arallel responses of sev eral individuals; question
ing; m otivating others to respond; accepting o r rejecting other
individuals' responses; participating actively in the discussion;
sum m arizing; generalizing; obtaining the group's agreem ent;
and form ulating conclusions.
3. Because of the verbal nature of the situation, the m ore tasks an
individual assu m es, the m ore tim e he is forced to spend in
talking to the group.
4. The individuals who c a rry out the above-m entioned tasks w ill be
perceived by o th ers to be the lead ers of the group discussion.
30
5. If the above hypotheses a re c o rre c t, then the tim e that an indi
vidual spends in talking in the lead erless group is indicative of
his status either as a lead er o r a follow er, in that group
discussion. (Bass, 1949, p. 192)
Hypothesis 2 is p articu larly relevant, if we a re to understand the dy
nam ics of a group without a leader. As Bass points out, some tasks may not
be perform ed at all. The functions germ ane to lead ersh ip --th o se functions
Bass defines as organization of thoughts, clarification of thoughts, accepting,
rejecting, sum m arizing, generalizing (in sh o rt, confronting and supporting) - -
m ay not be perform ed.
Hypothesis 3 posits that, the m ore tim e a person in the group spends
talking, the m ore likely he is to be rated as a leader by other group p a rtic i
pants. It m ay be argued that, although he m ay be perceived as a leader
(since no one else is perform ing the task of talking), his assum ption of this
task clearly does not n ecessarily im ply the successful o r dextrous donning
of the m antle of leadership.
In the statistic a l analysis of this study, which was well designed, c o r
relations ranging from 0.85 to 0.91 w ere found between the tim e spent talking
and votes received in the leadership c h arac te ristic s on the basis of which
study participants w ere com petitively m easured by one another. In te re st
ingly, no attem pt was m ade in this study to c o rre la te leadership qualities
with the quality of the group product o r with the relativ e ability of the groups
to solve problem s within o r outside the group m em b ers' c irc le.
31
Rothaus and Johnson (1963) have also rep o rted a study of lead erless
group interaction. T heir study addressed itself to the question of whether
"ro le re v e rsa l" techniques a re facilitative in stim ulating learning and effect
ing behavior changes in passive patients. T hree groups w ere form ed, each
consisting of 7 to 10 patients who w ere judged to be non-psychotic, lite ra te ,
and able to identify problem a re a s in th eir interpersonal relationships. D is
cussions without a lead er w ere held daily for a period of 1 -1 /2 hours. A fter
each of the firs t four group m eetings, the patients rated them selves and
other m em bers on a nine-point "participation scale" in o rd er to identify
patients who w ere c h arac te ristic ally active, p assive, and m oderate in
th eir verbal participation in the group p ro cess.
Before the group m et for the fifth tim e, the patients identified as " a c
tive" w ere instructed to decide exactly what th eir ideas w ere, and to "push
th eir topic in the g ro u p ." They w ere given the following instructions: "T ry
to keep the other m em bers from talking. Talk them down and cut them off.
In p a rtic u la r, try to keep the following m en off the discussion . . . " lis t
of the patients identified as passive followed. (Rothaus and Johnson, 1963,
p. 579)
Patients in the group who had been rated as "passive" o r silent w ere
instructed to keep silen t and to talk only if "active" patients invited them to
do so. Those patients identified as "m oderate" (the patients in the m iddle
of the scale) w ere told to help people who had not had a fa ir chance to enter
32
in the discussion; a list of the "passive" patients was given to them. All
patients w ere told not to tell anyone about th eir instructions. "Role re v e rsa l"
then followed at the exp erim en ters' instructions.
The re su lts indicated that persons enacting the ro le assigned acco rd
ing to th eir h eu ristic rating will exaggerate that ro le. Under role re v e rsa l,
the "active" patients experienced fru stratio n , while the passive ones found it
extrem ely difficult to c a rry th eir " re v e rse d role" assignm ent. However,
everyone found the ro le re v e rsa l m ore agreeable than the ro le repetition, and,
in both cases, "active" patients felt m ore responsible than "passive" patients.
Clinical observations by the experim ental staff indicate that ro le re v e rsa l (as
opposed to ro le repetition) is the m ost prom ising method for producing b e
havior change.
Although this study dealt with what was technically a lead erless group,
the instructions, the institutional setting, and the introduction of definite
techniques (role enacting and ro le re v e rsa l) conferred som e of the advantages
of leadership upon the group's operation. Many relevant observations w ere
derived from this study. Its p rim ary value lies in the insights offered on
the functioning of patients within a lead erless group of this type, to wit: Pa
tients rated "passive" w ere observed to have a skill deficiency that cannot
be developed autom atically (or, at le ast, not quickly) when called for by role
re v e rsa l. As the authors point out, "Group participation req u ires skill which
33
p assive patients often lack and cannot be developed suddenly, at a m om ent's
call, in response to role playing in stru ctio n s." (op. cit. , p. 237)
R esponse avoidance of the passive patients was believed to be due to
hostile fantasies they harbored and feared might come to the surface if they
lost control. The general attitude of the passive patients toward resp o n sib il
ity to the group was different from that of the active p atien ts. A sm all amount
of participation was sufficient to produce in the passive patient an overw helm
ing feeling of responsibility. In addition, the subjective confusion of a s s e r t
iveness with hostility caused many of the inactive patients to rem ain onlookers.
Some o th ers, the authors suspect, avoided responsibility in o rd er to estab
lish extensive dependency relationships with other people. F inally, fear of
hum iliation and failure was rep o rted m ore often by those who p re ferred the
passive ro le than by those who w ere m ore active.
Although this study attem pted som e m easurem ent of the relativ e com fort
of the patients in ro le enacting and ro le re v e rsa l, m ost indices of p erfo rm
ance consisted of clinical observations; that is, a non-participant's view and
subjective appraisal of the interaction within the group. This does not imply
that the study lacks m erit; on the co ntrary, the observations indicate clearly
that the lead erless group has som e shortcom ings. F o r exam ple, the sta te
m ent that "group participation req u ires skill" im plies the observed need of
one of the functions norm ally exercised by a leader: that of establishing con
ditions that facilitate the learning of the skills required for participation.
34
The shortcom ings of the lead erless group become apparent in the au
th o rs' observation of the group m em ber rated passive: his confusion of a s
sertiv en ess with hostility. Avoiding responsibility in o rd er to m eet depend
ency needs and to allay the fear of hum iliation kept the patients identified as
passive in the outskirts of the group. The observation, identification, and
exploration of these subtle interpersonal relationships in a group is one of the
functions of the leader.
While the above functions could be perform ed by one o r m ore persons
in the group (as they often are), in the absence of a professionally trained
lead er, th eir consistent perform ance is unlikely. What is m ore likely is
that the group's interaction will be heavily perm eated with com petitive r e
lationships, partly em anating from re a l or perceived hostility and partly
em anating from alliances engendered by bids for dependency on the p a rt of
passive group participants.
In spite of the interm ittent am bience of non-cooperation that the episodes
of confusion, hostility, and dependency generate in the lead erless group,
therapeutically productive interaction and the opportunity for abreaction
exist for at least som e of the participants; thus, the lead erless group (or
variations thereof) has been used with a certain degree of success in many
settings.
A typical use of the lead erless group in an institutional setting is r e
ported by Bert M. Indin, M .D. (1966). D r. Indin, dissatisfied with the
35
re su lts of the available therapeutic techniques for dealing with suicidal d e
p ressiv e patients (at Patton State H ospital, California) and plagued by the
scarcity of staff, organized a group to offer a therapy experience to hospital
ized women patients. These women, ranging in age from 20 to 35, w ere all
patients confined to a closed w ard in an "acute" psychiatric unit. The group
was open-ended; that is, new m em bers could be added as they becam e a v ail
able and as the original m em bers w ere discharged from the ward. The
group m et with its leader for one hour twice a week. In addition, for the
f ir s t 10 weeks, the group had an additional one-hour m eeting without a
form al th erap ist, but in relativ e privacy. The program was c arrie d out for
a y e ar, and no mention of the reason for the discontinuance of the lead erless
hour is m ade in the rep o rt.
The function of the lead er was to be as candid as possible and to keep
the group "in the h ere and now". Despite the prohibition spelled out in the
ground ru les against "acting out", som e patients acted out on several occa
sions; one of these occasions resulted in the deliberate destruction of a p a
tie n t's g lasses by another. In this p articu lar instance, the force of the group
in attem pting to control behavior was m anifested. As the author points out,
"The group, acting as a unit, pointed out to h er the destructive patient
that h e r behavior was not acceptable, and that in fact those actions w ere
c ra z y ." (Indin, 1966, p. 286) The regulating behavior function of the group
m em bers was also illu strated by the m aneuvers used to protect the individual
36
group m em bers: " . . . defense of one m em ber of the group by another;
changing the subject; confrontation of the th erap ist with his own statem ents
and candid disagreem ent with him; and non-verbal com m unication such as
tearfulness or handw ringing." (op. c i t . , p. 286)
Indin's conclusion was that this method of therap y --th e d irect, con
fronting, and candid ap p ro ach --is effective for treatin g the common psychi
a tric problem of depression and that, as a technique, it offers advantages
over the conventional methods of electro-convulsive shock, chem otherapy,
and re s tra in t. No successful suicides took place among the cu rre n t o r past
m em bers of the group; at the end of the y ear, all the original m em bers had
been discharged as in-patients.
Conceivably, the m ost valuable function of the leader is to become
truly interested in the lives of the persons in the group. His personal p a r
ticipation offers a non-threatening role m odel, thereby fostering an attitude
of caring and involvem ent that can provide the non-possessive warm th m ost
patients seem to need. This speculation is reflected by one of Indin's ob serv a
tions: "Tow ard the la tte r half of the group experience, the th erap ist and the
o b serv er becam e aw are of th eir deep involvem ent in the group and its m em
b e rs. This was em phasized by the therapy supervisor, who stated that the
th e ra p ist had a 'love' for this group of people. Both the th erap ist and the
o b serv er w ere aw are th ereafter that they re a lly cared about people in the
group and w ere determ ined to keep them alive and to help them become
m o re em otionally m ature individuals." (op. c i t . , p. 289)
37
The instabilities o r disequilibrium s that a ris e as a re su lt of the con
fusion of assertiv en ess with hostility, o r the need for acting-out, suggest
that som e group m em bers may dom inate o r d iv ert the group's attention
tow ard interactions selected to gratify th eir own needs, with little o r no con
cern for the w elfare of the m ore passive m em bers. T here is general a g re e
m ent, then, on the desirability of the p resence of the trained leader and his
tim ely intervention to clarify psychological contacts, to expose the ploys of
the m ore aggressive m em bers who use th eir verbosity and dominance for the
pu rsu it of hidden agendas, and to confront the passive dependent m em ber with
his unstated gain by non-participation.
It is also recognized that the balance in groups is occasionally lost
and that this im balance affects the totality of the group's effectiveness.
Thom as Gordon, in sketching a theoretical basis for thinking about groups,
com m ents: "Groups dem onstrate during som e specific tim e period som e
degrees of instability o r disequilibrium , as a re su lt of the forces within the
group. The group, then, is a dynamic system of fo rces. Changes in any
p a rt of the group produce changes in the group as a w hole." (Gordon, 1964,
p. 62)
As an example of this so rt of im balance in groups, Gordon cites the
changes instituted by supervisors in industrial groups, and concludes: "A
seem ingly isolated act, then, actually upsets the equilibrium of the whole
p la n t.” (op. c it., p. 62)
38
The regulating function of the group--m aneuvering of the m em bers to
p rotect each oth er, changing the subject, e t c ., observed by Indin--is summed
up in a proposition by Gordon: "Group behavior which serv es to reduce the
disequilibrium produced by changes in the inner forces of the group m ay be
described as adjustive behavior. The degree to which the group's behavior
is adjustive will be a function of the appropriateness of the methods employed
by the group as they a re related to the internal balance. " (op. c i t . , p. 62;
em phasis supplied) G ordon's proposition states that the group adjusts only
a s the group is capable of using appropriate methods to attack the problem ;
but if the methods used a re not appropriate, o r if the nature of the problem
is not m anifest, the group m ay re s o rt to expedient solutions that will release
the tension tem porarily without resolving the problem .
Gordon com pares the reaction of the group to that of the individual. "A
person that becom es involved in a conflict-producing situation which upsets
his own equilibrium , becom es tense and uncom fortable. He m ay," Gordon
continues, "tu rn to alcohol to achieve tem porary re lie f from tension, but
this solution is far from being appropriate to the solution of conflict." (op.
cit. , p. 63) Groups exhibit non-adjustive behavior which has been noted,
but which, because of its many m anifestations, has not been classified. P ro
jection, the witholding of feelings, censoring expression, and the dependence
noted in the Rothaus study a re som e of the non-adjustive behaviors exhibited
by groups. It is the w rite r's personal belief that the group with a leader
39
train ed to focus the attention of the group upon these futile solutions will
achieve a better level of interaction within that g ro u p --as well as a m ore
actively working group--than will groups that m eet without a leader or
le a d e rs .
Total p articip atio n —that is, the equal and intense participation of all
m e m b e rs--is another ideal that is generally agreed upon as desirab le, in a s
m uch as it contributes to the m anifestation of appropriate adjustive behavior
on the p art of the group. As Gordon explains, "The best decisions or the
m ost appropriate actions of a group will be based upon the maximum amount
of data o r reso u rces of its m em b ers." (op. c i t . , p. 63)
The studies we have review ed have been focused on the group product,
the functions of the lead er, and those qualities which seem to be n ecessary
to effectively achieve the group's product. The following studies deal with
the developm ent of a group counseling tool that has been named " Encounter -
tapes". We have review ed the developm ent and exploration of the lead erless
group from the point of view of w orkers in the fields of psychotherapy, coun
seling, guidance, and m edicine. The developm ent of group activity has not
alw ays, as we have described, been for the enhancem ent, w elfare, o r
personal growth of the participant of the group; other purposes have also
been extracted as a product of the group. The studies we a re about to review
w ere developed to p resen t a therapeutic group atm osphere in the absence of
an actual lead er, but with the advantage of the guidance from a professional
lead er whose instructions and directions a re recorded on m agnetic tape.
40
Betty Berzon, while associated with the W estern Behavioral Institute
(La Jolla, C alifornia), conducted a survey of re se a rc h in and developm ent of
self-d irected therapeutic groups (Berzon and Solomon, 1966). In this s u r
vey, the re su lts of three studies w ere described, and the conclusions derived
by the authors appeared to indicate that self-d irected therapy in groups is
feasible and that stim ulus m aterials can be developed to enhance the effec
tiveness of the group.
The th ree studies w ere oriented respectively toward exploration, eval
uation, and program m ing. The initial study, exploration, approached the
task of research in g self-d irected groups with g reat caution. Two groups of
adult men and women, who had come together voluntarily for group th e ra
peutic experience in the re sea rc h -in stitu te setting, m et weekly for 18 s e s
sions. These m eetings w ere observed by an "on-call" therap ist through a
one-way window; he would be called into the group upon unanimous agreem ent
of the m em bers. This summons was actually issued only three tim es in the
18 w eeks, by each of the th ree groups.
The groups' m em bers p ersisted throughout the entire se rie s of m eetings
without significant problem s, and som e rep o rted that the experience had been
helpful. L ittle acting out seem s to have taken p la ce --to the re lie f of the p ro
fessionals who had e a rlie r expressed concern on this sco re. The w orst that
could be said to have happened was that too little happened, ra th e r than too
m uch, as had been anticipated by the experim enters. N evertheless,
41
generally favorable conclusions concerning the feasibility and potential ef
fectiveness of self-d irected therapeutic groups w ere drawn by the
experim enters.
It was also concluded that the relativ e ineffectiveness of this firs t
effort stem m ed from the general lack of experience on the group m em bers'
p a rts, with "som e type of therapeutic activity (individual therapy, sen sitiv
ity training, e tc .) Those group m em bers who w ere experienced in this
activity w ere m ore prone to take responsibility for what happened in the
group, either to them selves, o r to th eir fellow m em bers. Inexperienced
m em bers w ere reluctant to assum e this responsibility. " (Berzon and
Solomon, 1966, p. 491)
This study suffered from a methodological shortcom ing--i. e. , the lack
of a control group--but the conclusions drawn from it w ere conservative
enough not to be invalidated by this shortcom ing. The principal conclusion,
as noted, was that previous therapeutic experience, on the p art of the group
m em bers, had a definite (although thus far unevaluable) effect on the efficacy
of the group p ro cess.
In the second study, evaluation, it was decided to design a m ore elab
o rate investigation, in which the effectiveness of self-d irected groups could
be com pared clearly with that of professionally led groups and in which the
previous therapeutic experience of individual group m em bers could fir s t be
assayed, and then evaluated in effects.
42
Twelve eight-m em ber groups w ere assigned for this effort, to m eet
weekly in intervals for a total of 18 weeks. Six of these groups w ere led by
a professionally qualified group th erap ist, while the other six w ere le a d e r
less--w ith o u t even an "on-call" th erap ist. In both the "led" and the " leader -
less" groups, half the m em bers had previous experience in the group p ro c
ess and half w ere totally inexperienced.
The instrum ents used for p re - and post-group evaluation of group-
m em ber tra its w ere the M innesota M ultiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
and a variant of the B arrett-L ennard Relationship Inventory of 1959. The
therapeutic p ro cess itself was evaluated by trained individuals' analysis of
a statistically valid sam pling of the groups’ sessions- In addition, the group
m em b ers' subjective evaluations of therapeutic effectiveness w ere quanti
tatively and qualitatively analyzed and co rrelated with attendance and
attritio n ra te s.
Surprisingly, th ere seem ed to be no c le a r-c u t differences among the
four groups of groups on any of the five evaluative p a ra m ete rs--w ith a single
(logical) exception: the "experienced" group m em bers w ere m ore facilitative
and m ore effective in "in-depth" exploration than the "inexperienced group
m em bers. This study evidently dem onstrated that lead erless groups can be
effective, given som e definable (but as yet undefined) level of "technical"
expertise on the p a rt of group m em bers. However, th ere w ere som e ra th e r
inconclusive indications that the "led ", "experienced" groups w ere som e
what m ore productive than the "unled", " inexperienced" groups,.... ......
43
The conclusion that lead erless groups could be effective if the group
m em bers knew what they w ere doing led directly to the third study, p ro
gram m ing--an effort to develop efficient, effective training m aterials capa
ble of obviating the need for either leadership with therapeutic experience or
therapeutically experienced group m em bers. This third study consisted of
a tw o-year program of developing and testing training m aterials.
The first y e a r's w ork dealt with vocational rehabilitation clien ts, and
this selection necessitated a specialized orientation of group objectives not
specifically relevant to this paper. Eight sm all groups, again half led,
half lead erless, m et twice a week for 18 sessions.
The indoctrination m a te ria ls--th e "program m ing"--consisted of copies
of 18 booklets that w ere re a d 'in o rd erly sequence by the m em bers of each
group to each other a t the beginning of the sessio n s. Each booklet described
a therapeutic concept o r technique, followed by instructions for an exercise
dem onstrating that concept o r technique. Seven re se a rc h instrum ents w ere
used for the quantitative assessm en ts of this phase, including standard q ues
tionnaires and o b serv er/m em b er evaluations. This resu lted in two significant
findings:
1. Both led and lead erless groups made substantial im provem ents in
self-im age, as com pared with a control group.
2. T here was an appreciable and consistent in crease in self-exposure
by group m em bers, from the beginning to the end of the sessio n s.
In addition, observed gains w ere achieved by group m em bers in the
incidence of dealings with personally relevant m aterial and in the frequency ;
44
of genuine confrontation, as com pared with the lead erless groups observed
e a rlie r.
In this study's second phase, changes w ere m ade both in the p ro g ram 's
re s e a rc h design and in the "program m ing" form at and content. M eetings
w ere held twice daily, ra th e r than twice a week; and the program m ing m ate
ria l was presented in audio-taped form , ra th e r than in a se rie s of booklets,
with segm ents of the instructional tape to be played at the beginning of each
session. C ertain of the ex ercises so presented req u ired supplem entary
form s and notebooks for p articip an ts' la te r referen ce. The m aterial p r e
sented was m ore generalized than the m aterial that had been used for the
vocational rehabilitation groups. F inally, the a rra y of p re - and post-group
evaluative instrum ents was modified to m eet the g re a te r generalization sought
in the training m aterial.
The re su lts of this th ird study showed that "experienced" group m em
b ers m ade the g re a test gains in "openness" and self-acceptance and the
g re a te st contributions, ju st as before. The observer-evaluated "therapeutic
clim ate" achieved higher ratin g s than before. The valid conclusion was
draw n that "tape-led" groups showed c lea r and reliab le effectiveness, so
plans w ere m ade to enter a th ird phase of tape-content im provem ent, as a
n ecessary prelude to wide distribution and use of these tapes.
Berzon, in a la te r association with Bell & Howell's Human Development
Institute, I n c ., was d ire c to r of a pro ject that grew out of the WBSI Phase 3
45
project. In Phase 3, a se t of com m ercially available tapes was developed
and thoroughly tested on two experim ental populations: Honor Camp inm ates
and university students in a YMCA setting (Berzon, 1968). The group s e s
sions w ere com pacted to 10, to be given in two tw o-hour sessions p e r day
fo r five days.
These experim ents in tape-led groups culm inated in the com m ercially
available program m ed "Encountertapes" (Berzon and R eisel, 1968) which
a re the subject of this study. Using Bess & Howell tapes, a com parison
was m ade between groups from a homogeneous population using leadership
in person and no leadership.
46
CHAPTER III
THE PROBLEM
With the advent of circu it m iniaturization in electro n ics, inexpensive
portable equipment has becom e available fo r the production and re -p la y of
m agnetic tapes. The w idespread ow nership of this equipment has encouraged
the developm ent of a num ber of m ethods for teaching m any subjects. While
som e of these methods have m et with considerable success (such as methods
for teaching languages), som e o thers have not been accepted as adjunct tools
of the teaching profession. C ourses and "aids" in self-hypnosis, sleep-
learning, and various other a re a s have failed to provide the n ecessary m o
tivation fo r learning to take place, or th eir content has been such that the
medium of p re-reco rd in g has not been appropriate.
In the field of counseling, a new tool called " Encountertapes" is now
available. This is a serie s of p re -re c o rd e d group leadership sessions that
grew out of the re se a rc h of Berzon and Solomon (see Chapter II) and which
w ere m ade com m ercially available through the m arketing of the Bell & Howell
Company in 1968. A s we have seen, a g re a t deal of c a re and precaution was
ex ercised to develop the tapes into a tool to provide the stim uli for group
p ro cess. Sensitivity exercises a re described by the p re -re c o rd e d leader,
th eir function in the easing of interpersonal relations is explained, and th eir
p ractice is requested by the leader, who guides the participants through the
ex ercises. Several m ethods a re employed to produce cath arsis. Dyads
47
(tw o-person team s) a re form ed and the participants a re encouraged to com
m unicate at a deep level of honesty la te r the dyad participants com m unicate
th eir experience to the others in the group. Listening intently and paying
attention to oneself and to others is em phasized.
Because of the prom ising nature of this new tool, the w rite r becam e
in terested in its capacities to serve as a new tool in the counseling field.
The question we a re exploring can essentially be stated as follows: To what
extent can Encountertapes substitute, enrich, or com plem ent the functions
of the leader? In o rd e r to begin to explore this m any-faceted question, the
f ir s t item becomes the central issue: How do Encountertapes com pare to
other m ethods in counseling? With this question in m ind, it was decided to
com pare the effects of Encountertapes to the effects of traditional group
leadership. To control for the effects of m eeting, not for any of the tra d i
tional counseling reaso n s, but sim ply for the effects of the norm al gathering
of a num ber of people without any counseling o r psychotherapy intentions,
a third group was included in the com parison: the lead erless assem bly,
which we have called the "convener" group. The a sse sso r of the effects had
to be one of the objectives of traditional counseling, if any utility was to be
shown in this field. The choice of our m easure was thus the degree of accep
tance of self and of others after differential modes of grouping: (1) with a
lead er, (2) with Encountertapes, and (3) without a leader.
Two o b serv ers sa t in the th ree groups for periods of 30 m inutes each
in the second, fifth, and eighth m eetings. The im pressions of the observ ers
48
can be sum m ed up as follows. The tape-led group seem ed to be very friendly
and much joviality m arked th eir exchanges. Participation was shared by m ost
of the m em bers, although (from observations of the fifth and eighth sessions)
two perso n s, the sam e in both cases, dominated the activities. The lead er-
le ss group had a definitely le ss verbal relationship. G reat periods of silence
w ere punctuated by apparent resentm ent and open questioning of the need for
the program . Some discussions began around p rescrip tiv e parental ro le s,
but these seem ed to end in pronouncem ents to which the participants apathet
ically agreed. The lead er-led group presented sev eral faces. On the second
m eeting, m ost of the 30 m inutes of observation was spent in sensitivity e x e r
cises (m illing around the room with eyes closed, bumping and touching). In
the fifth m eeting, role-playing about the resentm ent of the fam ily toward an
alcoholic father occupied 19 of the 30 m inutes, with the rem aining tim e em
ployed by other m em bers and the leader to synthesize the interactions and to
draw som e silent m em bers into the discussion. The eighth sessio n of the
lead er group centered around the problem of a m other of six children who
found h e rself working in a full-tim e job as a w aitress after h er husband was
im prisoned. Although the clim ate of the group in this session was supportive,
the participants did not extend advice, and employment at an electronics firm
was offered by another parent.
In o rd e r to prevent the bias of group m em bers resulting from persuasion
in the exchange of im p ressio n s, the questionnaires which served as the
49
m easurem ent tool of this study w ere adm inistered in the la st session and
w ere com pleted as soon as possible in the sam e evening. A fter the adm in
istra tio n of the questionnaire, parents from all th ree groups made spontaneous
com m ents, which w ere recorded as follows:
F rom the T ape-L ed Group
We have thoroughly enjoyed these m eetings. Would there be a p o ssi
bility that we could continue to m eet in our homes?
My wife and I enjoyed the m eetings, but they a re not pertinent to the
task of ra isin g gifted children. I would like to see a series of tapes
aim ed a t this task.
I did not enjoy the m eetings. I think that they a re a w aste of tim e and
the tim e could be better structured to m eet our needs as parents.
F rom the L ead erless A ssem bly
I was very bored, but I kept expecting that you the experim enter would
s it down in the group and liven things up.
I started a good argum ent about integration and block-busting, but
these people a re duds, it is im possible to reach them.
I kept com ing back only because two of my children a re in the gifted
program ; I su re hope that next sem ester you show m ovies o r give
ta lk s.
F rom the L ead er-L ed Group
I am glad that we have this program . It allowed me to understand my
daughter b etter. We have been playing group a t hom e, we set up the
tim e to talk after dinner on Tuesdays.
We loved Bud the group leader , he is a wonderful man, and I enjoyed
the opportunity to tell M r s . to get off. She always dom inates
the PTA m eetings.
I feel bad that we cannot continue as we a re; we a re just getting to know
each other.
I think that these m eetings m ay have som e value for som e people,
but I think that too much was revealed about p riv ate things in a
very short tim e, and now we quit, I feel that this is irresponsible.
Although no m easurable tra its w ere obtained from the o b serv er's notes
o r from the com m ents of the group m em bers, a general trend seem ed to
em erge. This trend points to the m ore lively interaction of the groups led
eith er by the tape o r by the leader than the lead erless assem bly. Several
other conclusions can be observed from the statem ents of the parents:
1. A m otivation to continue as a group was p resen t in both the
tape-led group and the lead er-led group.
2. A "laissez faire" attitude prevailed in the lead erless assem bly.
3. A m ore jovial attitude prevailed in the tape-led group than in
eith er of the other groups.
4. Some resentm ent was expressed by the m em bers of the lead er-
led group about personal disclosure.
5. Personal encounters seem ed to be m ore abundant in the lead er-
led group than in either of the other g ro u p s.
To control for the variable which Berzon found significant in her
studies (differential therapeutic experiences among group m em bers), this
study elim inated the parents who had therapy experience. These parents
w ere assigned to any of the other 33 groups which m et as p a rt of this
p ro g ram .
The com parison of this study with other studies of group effectiveness
against the c rite ria described is adm ittedly lim ited because of the task
orientation of parents of gifted children (parents of gifted children want to
51
i
talk about th eir ro le as successful parents). N evertheless, som e patterns of
differentiation and p referen ce for personal leader participation seem ed to
em erge from the observations and com m ents of the m em bers. This p re fe r
ence is corroborated by the statistic a l data derived in the study, as we shall
see below.
52
CHAPTER IV
METHOD AND PROCEDURE
This study was centered around the analysis of the relativ e effects of
th ree different form s of group interaction. The three methods w ere in v esti
gated because of (1) the g re a t in te re st group pro cess has received and (2) the
wide v ariety of settings in which groups a re used-
The choice of the a ss e ss o r variables was influenced by two factors:
(1) the question, "What a re groups for?" (that is, "How do we change as a
re s u lt of group interaction); and (2) the nature of the experim ental population.
The p rim ary in te re st of the parents who attended the group sem inars
from which our experim ental groups w ere selected was to learn techniques
of guidance in o rd er to im prove th eir relationships with th eir gifted children.
Because of this common bond (gifted children), we felt that these parents
would be somewhat re sista n t to the group process if they anticipated sessions
of a therapeutic nature. Confrontation and encounter, which a re a natural
o ccurrence in therapeutic and counseling groups, w ere m inim ized by d e
scribing and titling sessions in such a m anner as to em phasize the end p ro d
uct: "A cceptance of Self and of O thers".
The decision to use the c rite ria chosen was m ade to answ er the first
question, "What a re groups for?" and to provide a common denom inator in
the in te re st of the participants (acceptance of them selves and of their
children). It is the w rite r's opinion that the choice of the assessm en t
53
c rite ria was an adequate one because the group product (the behavior expected
from participation in groups) is generally an increased aw areness of one's
self and of others. To be aw are of one's self m eans to begin to com prehend
the breadth, depth, lim itations, and possibilities of our overt actions and
covert thoughts. Singer, w riting about the c rite ria of therapeutic im prove
m ent, sum m arizes the assessm en t thus: "Psychotherapy is p recisely dedi
cated to this aim: to m ake man com prehensible to him self, to help him
fe a rle ssly see him self, and to help him learn that this p ro cess of se lf
recognition, far from producing contem pt, im plies and brings about the
achievem ent of dignity and self-fu lfillm en t." (Singer, 1970, p. 75)
If the aim of psychotherapy is to understand the self, and if achievem ent
of dignity and self-fulfillm ent a re the re su lts, we reason that this process can
be analogous to the use of a short-hand expression: self-acceptance and the
acceptance of others. Singer speaks of the therapeutic situation that takes
place in a one-to-one setting; since our groups involve m ore than one-to-
one interactions, the acceptance of others is an obvious criterio n . We have
thus selected our c rite ria , acceptance of self, and acceptance of oth ers, as
valid m easures to a sse ss the different group treatm en ts, with the expectation
that the "acceptance" behavior of the group participants v aries with the nature
of its leadership o r with its absence.
The dependent variables we selected a re affected by many factors
that influence our study; personal, social, and genetic facto rs, for exam ple,
54
influence the form ation of self-concept and the relationship of one's existence
in the world. C ertainly if any of the treatm ents w ere to affect these personal
and unique c h a ra c te ristic s, it would be a powerful one.
In o rd er to com pensate for the different levels of acceptance brought
by parents to the group experience, a com plete statistical random ization was
achieved. The process of assigning the p aren ts random ly was possible be
cause of the large population available (N = 586).
Control V ariables
It is readily apparent that acceptance of self and of others is a function
of socioeconom ic position, intelligence, m otivation, the verbal skills with
which the person approaches his interpersonal relatio n s, and other factors.
Consequently, it is essential that all factors affecting group perform ance other
than the choice of treatm ent (leader, tape, or lead erless convening) be eith er
controlled o r taken into account.
1. Socioeconomic Position
It would be ideal if subjects could be m atched on exact levels of
incom e and social c la ss, but this kind of inform ation was not available for
all the participants in the th ree groups. T here w ere, how ever, data on the
ethnic affiliation of the subjects, as well as on the general level of income.
A fter considerable deliberation, it was decided that the m atching of subjects
could be done in a m anner that would re fle c t the com position of the p aram eter
of the parents of gifted children in the E ast Los Angeles area.
55
Incom es for the participants of the three groups (family total income)
ranged from $6,000 to $15,000, with a median incom e of $8,200. Income for
the total p aram eter (parents enrolled in the program ) ranged from a low of
$4,800 to a high of $17,300, with a m ean of $7,300. Ethnic affiliation was
rep resen ted in the sam ple groups (see Table 1, Chapter V). A heavy r e p r e
sentation of M exican-A m erican ethnicity is p resen t, as is readily apparent
from Table 1, Chapter V; this is typical of the geographical are a from which
the sam ple was taken.
2. Sex and Age
Tw enty-four percent of the total num ber of parents who enrolled
th eir children in program s for the gifted, and who participated in the se m i
n a rs, w ere m ale (N = 140), while 76 percent w ere fem ale (N = 446).
The age of the parents involved in the sem inars varied from 20 to 46.
In o rd er to refle c t the age range, the subjects of the three groups w ere d i
vided into two groups: (1) those of age 20 to 30 and (2) those of 30 or over.
3. M arital Status
M arital status is reflected in Table 1, Chapter V. The difference
in m arital status seem s to be co rrelated with sex in the total population from
which the investigated groups w ere selected (91 percent fem ales m arried ,
87 percen t fem ales m arried ).
Experim ental Design
This investigation dealt with three groups that w ere selected at random
from a population of parents of gifted children in the E ast Los Angeles a rea.
56
These groups have been subjected to different treatm en ts. O bservation of
the crite rio n m easu re as a function of the treatm en t was m ade a t the end of
the 10-session program . The a sse sso r m easu re was a questionnaire that
ren d e rs an index in two variables: (1) self-acceptance and (2) acceptance of
o th ers. The interaction of each of the different treatm ents with the a sse sso r
m easu re provided a te st of differences.
The m ean square ratio s for row s and colum ns, as well as the e rro r
te rm s and the interaction, a re all distributed as F (Lindquist, 1953, p. 271).
If the F is larg e enough (we chose the 0.05 level), then we can state that the
differences among the groups a re not due to chance and that we accept the
a ltern ate hypothesis, which postulates that observable differences re s u lt from
the effects of the group counseling procedure to which the p artic u la r group
has been subjected.
Hypotheses To Be Tested
1. R egarding the Population
Subjects in the groups selected fo r the different treatm ents do not
differ significantly from a random selection of parents of gifted
children in the population considered. T herefore, the com position
of the sam ple groups tested should not be different from that of the
total population enrolled in the program .
2. R egarding Outcome (Effectiveness)
2.1 The lead er-led goup (group 4) should show a significantly
higher index of self-acceptance than the group led by
Encountertapes (group 3).
2. 2 The le ad e r-led group (group 4) should show a significantly
higher index of acceptance of others than the group led by
the Encountertapes (group 3).
2 .3 The le ad e r-led group (group 4) should show a significantly
higher index of self-acceptance than the lead erless
assem bly (group 2).
2 .4 The lead er-led group (group 4) should show a significantly
higher index of acceptance of others than the lead erless
assem bly (group 2).
2. 5 The Encountertapes -led group (group 3) should show a
significantly higher index of self-acceptance than the
le ad e rle ss assem bly (group 2).
2. 6 The E ncountertapes-led group (group 3) should show a
significantly higher index of acceptance of others than the
le ad e rle ss assem bly (group 2).
A ssessm ent Instrum ent
1. D escription
The instrum ent used to m easu re the dependent variables really
consists of two sca le s, one to m easu re attitude toward self and one to
m easu re attitudes tow ard o th ers, but this instrum ent is adm inistered as a
single test. It was developed by E. Berger (1952) using the L ik ert procedure
58
(a h ierarch ical scale of five choices). The self-acceptance scale is m ade up
of 36 item s; the acceptance-of-others scale is m ade up of 28 item s.
2. S tatistical Sampling
The item s in these scales w ere selected from an initial pool of
47 statem ents on self-acceptance and acceptance of others on the basis of a
sim ple item analysis. The top and bottom 25 p ercent w ere selected from a
sam ple of 200, and the difference between the m ean scores in these c riterio n
sco res was used as an index of the discrim inating power of each item . The
standard e r r o r of the difference between m eans did not exceed 0.30 for any
item , and all the item s in the final scales had c ritic a l ratio s of 3.0 o r m ore
(except 3, which had c ritic a l ra tio s of 2.0).
3. Subjects
The subjects used in selecting the item s for the scales w ere 200
students who w ere in firs t-y e a r sociology o r psychology co u rses. They dif
fered widely in socioeconom ic backgrounds and vocational in te re sts. Ages
ranged from 17 to 45, but about 90 percent of the subjects w ere in the 17-to-
30 age group. F o r reliab ility and validation studies, sam ples w ere drawn
from students in both day and evening sessio n s, p riso n e rs, stu tte re rs,
speech problem cases, adult c lasses at YMCA, and counselees.
4. Response
The response mode is a modified L ik ert type. The subject r e
sponds to each item by entering a 1 for "not at all tru e of m y se lf', a 2 for
59
"slightly tru e of m yself", a 3 for "about halfway true o f m yself", a 4 for
"m ostly tru e of m y s e lf', and a 5 for "tru e of m yself".
5. Scoring
The sco re for any item ran g es from 1 to 5. F o r item s expressing
a favorable attitude tow ard self o r o th ers, a score of 5 is assigned to a r e
sponse of "tru e of m y self’, a sco re of 4 for a resp o n se "m ostly tru e of m y
s e l f , a score of 3 for "about halfway tru e of m yself", a sc o re of 2 for
"slightly true of m y self’, and a sc o re of 1 fo r "not at all tru e of m yself".
The direction of the scoring is rev ersed for negatively -worded item s. A fter
this adjustm ent has been m ade, the acceptance of self is scored by sum m ing
a ll the item s for that scale. The acceptance of others is sim ila rly scored.
A high sco re indicates a favorable attitude tow ard self or others.
S tatistical C onsiderations
1. R eliability
Split-half re liab ilities w ere obtained for five groups ranging in
size from 18 to 183. These reliab ilities w ere re p o rte d to be 0.894 o r better
for the self-acceptance scale for all but one group; this exception was r e
ported a t 0.746. Sim ilarly, reliab ilities for the acceptance-of-others scale
ranged from 0.776 to 0-864. All estim ates w ere co rrected by the Spearm an-
Brown form ula.
2. V alidity
Several estim ates of validity w ere obtained for these sc a le s.
60
F ir s t, the m em bers of one group (N = 20) w ere asked to w rite about
th eir attitudes tow ard o th ers. These essays w ere then rated by four
judges and the m ean arith m etic ratings co rrelated with the co rrespond
ing scale sco res. The co rrelatio n was 0.897 for self-acceptance and
0.727 for acceptance of others.
Second, a group of stu tte re rs (N = 38) was com pared with a group of
n o n -stu tte re rs, m atched for age and sex. The stu tte re rs had lower m ean
sco res than n o n -stu tte re rs (p less than 0.06) on the self-acceptance scale.
F o r the acceptance-of-others scale, a group of p riso n ers was com pared with
a group of college students, m atched for sex, age, and ra c e. As expected,
p riso n ers scored low er in the acceptance-of-others scale than the students,
with p about 0.02. The p riso n e rs also scored low er on the self-acceptance
scale, with p le ss than 0.01.
Finally, m em bers of a speech rehabilitation group (N = 7) w ere rated
for self-acceptance by clinical a ssistan ts. This sco re co rrelated 0.59 with
the self-acceptance sc o re , which was not significantly higher than chance.
This is not consistent with other re su lts, but the sm all num ber of cases and
the probable un reliab ility of the ratings ra is e a significant question about
the estim ate of validity.
61
CHAPTER V
RESULTS
The experim ent was designed to perm it the testing of differences among
the sco res of the a sse sso r m easures of the th ree groups. Hypotheses w ere
form ulated regarding the specific differences between the treatm ents of the
groups (see Chapter IV). The re su lts will be discussed in term s of the
hypotheses form ulated and evaluated as they b ear on the m ajor purpose of
this investigation.
Table 1 p resen ts the m arital statu s, sex, and ra c ia l o r ethnic com posi
tion of the p arent group, the convener group, the Encountertape-led group,
and the lead er-led group. The num ber of subjects (N) is shown, and the
sex, ethnicity, and m arital status of the parent population a re reproduced in
the th ree gro u p s.
The m eans and standard deviations of the th ree treatm ent groups a re
shown in Table 2. Means and deviations for each of the a sse sso r variables
(self-acceptance and acceptance of others) a re read ily com parable for the
th ree groups.
Table 3 p resen ts the re su lts of the analysis of variance of the le a d e r-
led group v ersu s the group led by Encountertapes. This table com pares these
groups in the m easure of self-acceptance; it corresponds with our hypothesis
2. 1.
62
Table 4 p resen ts the re su lts of the analysis of variance between the
lead er-led group and the Encountertapes group, but on the other a ss e ss o r
m easu re, the acceptance of oth ers. This table corresponds to our hypothe
sis 2.2.
Table 5 p resen ts the re su lts of the analysis of variance between the
lead er-led group and the convener group in the m easure of self-acceptance;
it corresponds with our hypothesis 2.3.
Table 6 p resen ts the re su lts of the analysis of variance between the
lead er-led group and the convener group in the m easure of acceptance of
others; it corresponds with our hypothesis 2.4 .
Table 7 p resen ts the resu lts of the analysis of variance between the
group led by the Encountertapes and the convener groups in the m easure of
self-acceptance; it corresponds with our hypothesis 2. 5.
Table 8 p resen ts the re su lts of the analysis of variance between the
group led by the Encountertapes and the convener group in the acceptance of
others; it corresponds with our hypothesis 2.6.
D iscussion of Findings
1. D ifferences in Means and Standard Deviations
F rom m ere inspection of the values of the m eans (Table 2), we
d iscern that with resp ect to the acceptance of self the leader group obtained
the highest num erical value (159.462). The other groups (convener and tape-
led) had m eans that w ere v ery close: convener 131.667 and Encountertape-
led 135.067. The standard deviations of the th ree groups w ere divided
63
sim ilarly . The lead er-led group had values of 10.751 for self-acceptance
and 6.786 for the acceptance of oth ers, while the other two groups had values
that w ere very close to each other and different from the values of the
lead er-led group: for self-acceptance, convener 21.094 and Encountertape
27.675; for acceptance of oth ers, convener 8.938 and Encountertape 10.861.
Although no statistic a l inference can be m ade at this point, a h ie ra rc h i
cal arrangem ent is apparent in the m eans: The convener assem bly shows the
low est value in both m easu res, the Encountertape-led group is next, and
the lead er-led group shows the highest value in both m easu res.
Analysis of V ariance
Table 3 presents a com parison of the le ad e r-led group and the Encounter
tap es-led group. We found that, when com paring these groups on the m easu re
self-acceptance, the analysis of variance yielded an F value of 8.903. This
value is significant beyond the 0.05 level, which re p re se n ts a probability
value of 0.006.
With the values obtained, we can d eclare the null hypothesis untenable;
that is, our hypothesis 2.1 is tenable. The lead er-led group shows a higher
and statistically significant different index of self-acceptance than the group
led by the Encountertapes.
Table 4 com pares the lead er-led group with the convener group in the
m easu re acceptance of others. The F value fo r these two groups is 2.415,
and we find that this value is not significant beyond the lim its of probability
64
se t (0.05); p = 0.129 with 1 and 22 degrees of freedom . Thus, the null
hypothesis is tenable, and our hypothesis 2. 2 is not tenable. That is,
th ere is no statistically significant difference between the m eans of the indexes
of acceptance of others of the groups led by Encountertapes and the groups
led by a leader.
Table 5 com pares the convener group with the lead er-led group on the
m easu re acceptance of self. The F value yielded was 17.665, which we
found to be significant beyond the 0.05 level. Our obtained p value is 0.001;
thus we re je c t the null hypothesis and accept our hypothesis 2.3. That is,
the lead er-led group shows a higher and statistically significant difference in
the index of self-acceptance than the convener group.
Table 6 p resen ts the analysis of variance between the convener group
and the lead er-led group with re sp ec t to the acceptance of o thers. The value
F = 10.896 was found, again with 1 and 22 degrees of freedom , a value that
is statistically significant beyond the 0.05 level with an obtained p value of
0.003. We thus conclude that the null hypothesis is rejected and our hypothe
sis 2. 4 is accepted. That is, the leader group shows a higher and s ta tis
tically significant different index of acceptance of others than the convener
group.
Table 7 com pares the E ncountertapes-led group with the convener
group. The F value of 0.125 is not significant at the 0-05 level; we thus
accept the null hypothesis and re je ct our hypothesis 2. 5. That is, there is
65
no statistically significant difference between the E ncountertapes-led group
and the convener group in the index of self-acceptance.
Table 8 p resen ts the analysis of variance between the E ncountertapes-
led group and the convener group with resp ect to the acceptance of others.
The F value of 1.668 did not prove to be statistically significant; thus we
accept the null hypothesis and re je c t our hypothesis 2.6. That is , th ere is
not a statistically significant difference between the Encountertapes -led
group and the convener group in the index of acceptance of others.
Table 9 sum m arizes the discussion of the values of F in the different
analyses of variance and the acceptance o r rejection of our hypotheses.
TABLE 1 - AGE, SEX, MARITAL STATUS, AND RACIAL OR ETHNIC AFFILIATION OF POPULATION
AND GROUPS
Population
Group 1
(Total)
Group 2
(Convener)
N
AGE
20 to 30
30 o r over
SEX
Male
Fem ale
MARITAL STATUS
Males M arried
Fem ales M arried
Males Div. o r Sep.
Fem ales Div. or Sep.
RACE/ETHNICITY
Caucasian
M exican-A m erican
586
441 (75.1%)
145 (24.9%)
140 (24%)
446 (76%)
127 (91%)
388(87%)
13 (9%)
58 (13%)
116 (20%)
404 (69%)
12
4
8
4
7
0
1
2
8
Group 3
(Tape-Led)
12
4
8
4
7
0
1
2
8
Group 4
(L eader-L ess)
12
4
8
4
7
0
1
2
8
TABLE 1 (Continued)
Population_______________
RACE/ETHNICITY
(Continued)
Japanese-A m erican
Black
Group 1
(Total)
60 (9-8%)
6 (1%)
Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
(Convener)_________(Tape-Led) (L eader-L ess)
2 1 1
O i l
O '
TABLE 2 - MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS BETWEEN THREE GROUPS ON SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND
ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS
L eaderless Group
Tape-Led Group
Led Group
________Self-Acceptance____________
Mean Standard Deviation
131.667 21.094
135.067 27.675
159.462 10.751
Acceptance of O thers________
Mean Standard Deviation
99.50 8.938
104.533 10.861
109-923 6.786
O '
oo
TABLE 3 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN TAPE-LED AND LEADER-LED GROUPS: SELF-ACCEPTANCE
(HYPOTHESIS 2 .1 )
Source of V ariance
Between
Within
Sum of
Squares
4146.813
931.510
D egrees of
Freedom Mean Square F p
1 4146.813 8.903 0.006
22 465.755
O '
'O
TABLE 4 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN TAPE-LED AND LEAD ER-LED GROUPS: ACCEPTANCE OF
OTHERS (HYPOTHESIS 2. 2)
Source of V ariance
Between
Within
Sum of D egrees of
Squares Freedom Mean Square
204.750 1 204.750 2.415 0.129
1865.094 22 84.772
TABLE 5 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN CONVENER AND LEADER-LED GROUPS: S E L F -
ACCEPTANCE (HYPOTHESIS 2. 3)
Source of V ariance
Between
Within
Sum of
Squares
4824.500
6008.408
D egrees of
Freedom Mean Square F
4824.500 17.665
22 273.114
P
0.001
TABLE 6 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN CONVENER AND LEADER-LED GROUPS: ACCEPTANCE
OF OTHERS (HYPOTHESIS 2 .4 )
Source of V ariance
Between
Within
Sum of D egrees of
Squares Freedom Mean Square
678.063 1 678.063 10-896 0.003
1369.016 22 62.228
TABLE 7 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN LEADERLESS AND TAPE-LED GROUPS: SELF-ACCEPTANCE
(HYPOTHESIS 2.5)
Source of V ariance
Between
Sum of
Squares
78.250
D egrees of
Freedom Mean Square
78.250 0.125
P
0.726
Within 13742.96 22 624.680
TABLE 8 - ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE BETWEEN CONVENER AND TAPE-LED GROUPS: ACCEPTANCE OF
OTHERS (HYPOTHESIS 2. 6)
Source of V ariance
Between
Within
Sum of D egrees of
Squares Freedom Mean Squares
168.813 1 168.813 1.668 0.206
2226.444 22 101.202
TABLE 9 - HYPOTHESES
Hypothesis 1:
Hypothesis 2.1:
Hypothesis 2.2:
Hypothesis 2.3
Hypothesis 2.4
Hypothesis 2.5
Subjects selected for the different treatm ents do not differ
significantly from a random selection of the parent popu
lation. UPHELD.
The lead er-led group should show a significantly higher
index of self-acceptance than the group led by Encounter-
tapes. UPHELD.
The lead er-led group should show a significantly higher
index of acceptance of others than the group led by
Encountertapes. NOT SUPPORTED.
The lead er-led group should show a significantly higher
index of self-acceptance than the lead erless group.
UPHELD.
The lead er-led group should show a significantly higher
index of acceptance of others than the lead erless group.
UPHELD.
The E ncountertapes-led group should show a significantly
higher index of self-acceptance than the lead erless group.
NOT SUPPORTED.
Hypothesis 2.6 The E ncountertapes-led group should show a significantly
higher index of acceptance of others than the lead erless
group. NOT SUPPORTED.
CHAPTER VI
76
DISCUSSION
The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the com parative effects
of E ncountertape-led groups, lead erless groups, and led groups. The
c rite rio n used was the relativ e degree of acceptance of the persons who p a r
ticipated in the different modes of treatm ent. This c rite rio n m e asu re - -
acceptance--w as dichotom ized into acceptance of self and acceptance of
others. It was established that th ere is good reason to believe that groups
led by a leader in person should show a significantly higher index of gain in
the variab les investigated.
The lite ra tu re dealing with lead erless groups indicates that this form
of assem bly is beneficial in achieving the aim s that a re generally accepted
as goals for group counseling. The lite ra tu re dealing with Encountertapes
was research ed , and from the available evidence it was established that this
form of treatm en t offers advantages over the lead erless assem bly. Although
th ere was a careful p ro cess of developm ent preceding the m arketing of the
Encountertapes, no com parison of relativ e effects had been m ade. T here
was a need for an investigation that explored the com parative effects of the
m ethods available fo r group counseling and com pared and contrasted them
with resp ect to som e universally accepted m easure of therapeutic or
counseling gain. The experim ent rep o rted h ere was designed to achieve
these aim s.
Our findings indicated that differences in the mode of leadership do
indeed affect the resu lts of the m easured acceptance of self and of others.
It was not su rp risin g that the personally led group showed significant gains
in the acceptance of self over the E ncountertape-led group. It was s u rp ris
ing, how ever, that the difference in the acceptance of others of these two
groups was not significant, although it m ay be reasoned that the use of the
Encountertapes does prom ote a close, personal relationship among the group
participants by virtue of the ex ercises in sensitivity encouraged by the tape-
recorded leader. While the instruction of the participants in ex ercises to
achieve this clo se r, m ore personal relationship seem s to be possible with
the use of Encountertapes, the m ore subtle detection of derogatory s ta te
m ents by the group m em bers toward the self o r toward others is only p o ssi
ble with the participation of an experienced and active leader. In other
w ords, while it is possible to encourage people in groups to re la te to others
on a deeper, m ore personal level with the use of instructions, it seem s that
the p resence of a person who has an ex pertise, sensitivity, o r training in
the analysis and synthesis of interpersonal relations is essential to obtain
higher indexes of self-acceptance.
The E ncountertape-led group did not show a higher index in the a c
ceptance of self than the lead erless assem bly. This finding seem s to
strengthen the point m ade above: Without the active participation of a
person functioning as a leader, the interpersonal transactions, p articu larly
78
those involving statem ents of w orth o r acceptance, go unchallenged. Thus,
no change of values o r attitudes takes place.
When the Encountertape-led group was com pared with the lead erless
assem bly for relativ e effects in the acceptance of o th ers, no significant
difference was found. On the surface, this finding appears to indicate that
Encountertapes a re not b etter as a form of leadership than the lead erless
assem bly to obtain gains in this m easure. Upon clo ser scrutiny, we find
that the m ean for the Encountertape-led group was substantially higher than
that of the lead erless group (although the difference is not statistically sig
nificant; p = 0.206). On the other hand, as we have seen, th ere was not a
statistically significant difference between the E ncountertape-led group
and the actively led group. Thus, it seem s that E ncountertape-led groups
a re better than no leadership to obtain gains in this m easure, but the find
ings a re not clearly defined.
One plausible explanation for the lack of clean re su lts could be the
homogeneous nature of the population. The population was com posed of
p aren ts of gifted children who live in a geographical a re a with common cul
tu ral and ethnic bonds, a sym pathy for each other, and a sense of identifi
cation; thus, acceptance for each other was already presen t at the beginning
of the sessions. Because of the already high sense of belonging--of accep
tance for each o th e r--th e m easure of acceptance of others m ay not have been
significantly im proved a fte r the treatm ent with E ncountertapes, and a
79
g re a te r and significant difference might be found if a m ore heterogeneous
population w ere investigated.
The outcome of this investigation supports the hypothesis which states
that groups led by a lead er in person a re m ore effective than any other form
of group leadership to im prove self-acceptance, and that Encountertapes do
not dem onstrate effectiveness in this m easure. However, Encountertapes
may prove to be a useful tool in im proving acceptance of o th ers, when used
with a less homogeneous group than that investigated h ere.
80
CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY
This investigation com pared the relativ e effects of three modes of
group lead ersh ip --p erso n al leadership, leadership by Encountertapes, and
a lead erless assem bly—in term s of changes in group m em bers' level of
self-acceptance and acceptance of oth ers. The basis for all th ree modes of
leadership was analyzed in the light of findings from the fields of group dy
nam ics, group psychotherapy, and group counseling.
To m easure the relativ e effectiveness of these modes of leadership,
th ree groups w ere form ed by choosing by random selection a total of 36
subjects from a parent population of 586. The population was form ed of p a r
ents of gifted children attending the schools of E ast Los A ngeles. Ethnic
com position, ra c e , income, sex, and m arital status w ere m atched in the
experim ental groups. The three groups w ere then exposed to three different
treatm ents: personal leadership, leadership by Encountertapes, and no
leadership.
A fter 10 weeks of group m eetings of two hours' duration under the
th re e different modes of leadership, group m em bers com pleted a question
n a ire (B erger, 1952) that m easures acceptance of self and of others.
Groups led by Encountertapes w ere found to be le ss effective in im
proving self-acceptance than groups with personal leadership. No s ta tis ti
cally significant difference was found in the indexes of this c riterio n between
81
the E ncountertape-led group and the lead erless assem bly, while a significant
difference was found between the group with a lead er and the lead erless
group. However, the m ean for the E ncountertape-led group was higher than
the m ean for the lead erless assem bly in this m easure, a finding which sug
gests that the use of Encountertapes is better than no leadership.
No significant difference between the Encountertape-led groups and the
lead er-led group was found in the index of acceptance of oth ers, but also no
significant difference was found between the Encountertape-led group and
the lead erless assem bly. This finding indicates that Encountertapes a re
less effective in im proving the acceptance of others in the group than active
leadership, since a significant difference was found between the actively led
group and the lead erless assem bly.
It was concluded that personal leadership is the treatm en t of choice to
im prove acceptance of self and acceptance of oth ers. However, we believe
Encountertapes a re useful, inasm uch as a trend in acceptance of others is
evident when com pared with a lead erless assem bly.
The nature of the population may have lim ited the findings concerning
the acceptance of o th ers, since the homogeneous nature of this group (69
percent M exican-A m erican, all geographical neighbors) probably im plied a
g re a te r initial sense of identification than the total p aram eter of the
C alifornia population. Thus, it is possible that in a future study a g re a te r
82
difference in acceptance of others may be m anifested when using E ncounter
tapes with a less homogeneous group.
In the im provem ent of self-acceptance, Encountertape-led groups w ere
found to be le ss effective than the groups led by a trained lead er. In fact,
no difference in the index of self-acceptance between the Encountertape-led
group and the lead erless group was found.
Since no significant difference in the index of acceptance of others
between the Encountertape-led group and the train ed -lead er group was found,
and since no significant difference was found between the Encountertape-
led group and lead erless assem bly, we m ust look for a differentiation from
the com parison of the actively led group with the lead erless group. It is
h ere that we find a difference; the actively led group is significantly higher
than the lead erless assem bly in the m easure acceptance of others.
It was concluded that p ersonal, active, trained leadership seem to be
the treatm ent of choice and that the lead erless form of assem bly offers the
le ast im provem ent in term s of our crite rio n m e a su re s.
83
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APPENDIX
PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
89
ACCEPTANCE OF SELF AND OTHERS
This is a study of som e of your attitudes. Of co u rse, th ere is no rig h t a n s
w er for any statem ent. The best answ er is what you feel is tru e of yourself.
You a re to respond to each question on the answ er sheet according to the
following schem e:
1 Not at a ll 2 Slightly tru e 3 About half-
tru e of of way true of
m yself m yself m yself
4 M ostly tru e 5 T rue of
of m yself
m yself
R em em ber, the best answ er is the one which applies to you.
W rite the num ber which applies m ost closely to the way you feel.
1. I'd like it if I could find som eone who would tell m e how to solve my
personal problem s. ____
2. I don't question my w orth as a person, even if I think others do. _____
3. I can be com fortable with all v arieties of people—from the highest to
the low est. ____
4. I can becom e so absorbed in the w ork I'm doing that it doesn’t bother
m e not to have any intim ate friends. ____
5. I don't approve of spending tim e and energy in doing things fo r other
people. I believe in looking to my fam ily and m yself m ore and letting
others shift for them selves. ____
6. When people say nice things about m e, I find it difficult to believe they
re a lly m ean it. I think m aybe th ey 're kidding m e o r just a re n 't being
sin cere.
7. If th ere is any criticism o r anyone says anything about m e, I just
c an 't take it.
90
8. I don't say m uch at social affairs because I'm afraid that people will
c ritic iz e m e o r laugh if I say the wrong thing. ____
9. I re a lize that I'm not living v ery effectively but I ju st don't believe that
I've got it in m e to use my energies in better ways. ____
10. I don't approve of doing favors for people. If y o u 're too agreeable
th ey 'll take advantage of you. ____
11. I look on m ost of the feelings and im pulses I have tow ard people as
being quite natural and acceptable. ____
12. Something inside m e ju st won't let m e be satisfied with any job I ’ve
done--if it turns out w ell, I get a v ery smug feeling that this is be
neath m e, I shouldn't be satisfied with th is, this is n 't a fair te st. ____
13. I feel different from other people. I'd like to have the feeling of s e c u r
ity that com es from knowing I'm not too different from o thers. ____
14. I'm afraid for people that I like to find out what I'm really like, for
fe a r they'd be disappointed in m e. ____
15. I am frequently bothered by feelings of inferiority. _____
16. Because of other people, I haven't been able to achieve as much as I
should have. ____
17. I am quite shy and self-conscious in social situations. _____
18. In o rd er to get along and be liked, I tend to be what people expect me
to be ra th e r than anything else. ____
19. I usually ignore the feelings of others when I'm accom plishing som e
im portant end. ____
20. I seem to have a re a l inner strength in handling things. I'm on a
p retty solid foundation and it m akes m e pretty su re of m yself. ____
21. T h e re 's no sense in com prom ising. When people have values I don't
like, I ju st don't c are to have much to do with them . ____
22. The person you m a rry m ay not be perfect, but I believe in trying to
get him (or h er) to change along desirab le lin e s. ____
91
23. I see no objection to stepping on other people's toes a little if it'll
help me get what I want in life. ____
24. I feel self-conscious when I'm with people who have a su p erio r position
to mine in business or at school. ____
25. I try to get people to do what I want them to do, in one way or
another. ____
26. I often tell people what they should do when th ey 're having trouble in
m aking a decision. ____
27. I enjoy m yself when I'm alone, away from other people. _____
28. I think I'm neurotic or something. _____
29. I feel neither above nor below the people I m eet. _____
30. Som etim es people m isunderstand m e when I try to keep them from
making m istakes that could have an im portant effect on th eir
lives. ____
31. V ery often I don't try to be friendly with people because I think they
w on't like m e. ____
32. T here a re v ery few tim es when I com plem ent people for th eir talents
o r jobs they've done. ____
33. I enjoy doing little favors for people even if I don't know them well. ___
34. I feel that I'm a person of w orth, on an equal plane with others.
35. I can 't avoid feeling guilty about the way I feel tow ard certain people
in my life. ____
36. I p refer to be alone ra th e r than have close friendships with any of the
people around m e. ____
37. I'm not afraid of m eeting new people. I feel that I'm a worthwhile p e r
son and th e re 's no reaso n why they should dislike m e. ____
38. I so rt of only half-believe in m yself. ___
39. I seldom w orry about other people. I'm really p retty self-centered.
92
40. I'm v ery sensitive. People say things and I have a tendency to think
th ey 're criticizin g m e o r insulting m e in som e way and la te r when I
think of it, they m ay not have m eant anything like that a t all. ____
41. I think I have certain ab ilities and other people say so too, but I
wonder if I'm not giving them an im portance way beyond what they
deserve. ____
42. I feel confident that I can do som ething about the problem s that may
a ris e in the future. ____
43. I believe that people should get c re d it for th eir accom plishm ents,
but I v ery seldom com e a c ro ss w ork that deserv es p ra ise. ____
44. When someone asks for advice about som e personal problem , I'm
m ost likely to say, " It's up to you to decide," ra th e r than tell him
what he should do. ____
45. I guess I put on a show to im p ress people. I know I'm not the person
I pretend to be. ____
46. I feel that for the m ost p a rt one has to fight his way through life.
That m eans that people who stand in the way will be hurt. ____
47. I can 't help feeling su p erio r (or inferior) to m ost of the people I
know. ____
48. I do not w orry o r condemn m yself if other people pass judgm ent
against m e. ____
49. I don't hesitate to u rg e people to live by the sam e high set of values
which I have for m yself. ____
50. I can be friendly with people who do things which I consider wrong. ___
51. I don’t feel v ery norm al, h it I want to feel norm al. _____
52. When I'm in a group I usually don't say much for fear of saying the
wrong thing. ____
53. I have a tendency to sidestep my problem s. _____
54. If people a re weak and inefficient I'm inclined to take advantage of them.
I believe you m ust be strong to achieve your goals. ____
93
55. I'm easily irrita te d by people who argue with m e. ____
56. When I'm dealing with younger p erso n s, I expect them to do what I
te ll them . ____
57. I don't see m uch point to doing things for others unless they can do
you som e good la te r on. ____
58. Even when people do think well of m e, I feel s o rt of guilty because I
know I m ust be fooling them —that if I w ere re a lly to be m yself, they
w ouldn't think well of m e. ____
59. I feel that I'm on the sam e level as other people and that helps to
establish good relatio n s with them . ____
60. If someone I know is having difficulty in working things out for him self,
I like to tell him what to do.
61. I feel that people a re apt to re a c t differently to me than they would
norm ally re a c t to other people. ____
62. I live too much by other peoples' standards. _____
63. When I have to ad d ress a group, I get self-conscious and have diffi
culty saying things well. ____
64. If I didn't always have such h ard luck, I'd accom plish much m ore
than I have.

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Creator Rios, Ramon Moreno (author)

Core Title The Comparative Effects Of Tape-Led, Led, And Leaderless Groups

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Degree Doctor of Philosophy

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Tag education, guidance and counseling,OAI-PMH Harvest

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Advisor Ofman, William V. (committee chair), Buscaglia, Leo F. (committee member), Robb, J. Wesley (committee member)

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