The objective of this study is to provide local law enforcement agencies with guidelines for the collection and dissemination of elements of information required for sound decision making in response to the threat or actual initiation of collective violence. Informal, semi-structured interviews in fourteen selected cities and six State police…

The objective of this study is to provide local law enforcement agencies with guidelines for the collection and dissemination of elements of information required for sound decision making in response to the threat or actual initiation of collective violence. Informal, semi-structured interviews in fourteen selected cities and six State police…

Students in speech classes at Northern Illinois University participated in tests to determine what assumption of roles in discussion groups impairs participation and prohibits consensus. Students were randomly assigned to one of twelve discussion groups of five members each. The topic and materials for discussion were excerpted from the local…

This report explicates the concrete group development of a cadre of persons from Simeon High School, the University of Chicago, and the Board of Education in the summer sector of the Ford Training and Placement Program. The report is organized around crucial indices of group development, i.e., the problem of leadership. Data were collected from…

This study reports an analysis of the effects of moderate levels of noise on task performance of an interacting group. Groups of students first interacted in information-sharing discussions under varying conditions of noise and then responded to an objective test over the shared information and to a series of semantic differential scales designed…

This research essentially presents an overview, historically and contemporarily, of the social-psychological concept of the reference group (or "other"), including theoretical and empirical literature reviews. Basic problems of definition and conceptual confusion are discussed. Concepts such as relative deprivation, anticipatory socialization,…

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

The author describes an experimental group activity designed in England for 13 to 14 year olds which allowed participants the freedom in the art of building of social relationships. Discussed are the rules for the self-directed group activity, the group pressures and processes experienced by the adolescents, and the teacher's role. (Author/RM)

Analyses in this study revealed trends that bear some similarity to other coorientation research on the variables of agreement, accuracy, and congruency between individual members and their group, but the small amount of variance accounted for by time spent communicating suggests a need for measurement revisions in further research. (PD)

Describes the concept of group maturity and recent attempts to measure the concept. Reports on a study that administered maturity scales to students in communication and management courses and found the scales to be powerful discriminators between mature and immature groups. Discusses implications for small group and organizational communication…

Investigated the effects of reinforcement with differing therapist styles upon affective verbalizations in undergraduate students (N=72). Results showed that the presence of facilitators and the provision of feedback enhanced the expression of affective and empathic verbalizations and that the direct question process interacted in an additive…

Explores the background and rationale of efforts to develop LOGS: a Language of Group Skills which encodes a core of six group competencies in behavioral terms. Joins the organizational development concept of a common language for management to the adult education concept of self-directed learning. (LLL)

Reports the results of a study on the most assertive member in integrated small groups composed of two black and two white junior high school boys, a study which attempted to determine if black assertives were treated differently and behaved differently than white assertives. (JM)