Reviewed by Craig Miyamoto in the Summer 1995 issue of
Public Relations Review: A Journal of Research and Comment
(Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 21:2, pp 163-164)
What do AIDS patients, a political action committee, John F. Kennedy's inner circle of advisors, gangs, a witch coven, a city council, and the Watergate conspirators have in common?
They are all "small groups"--microcosms that rely on symbols and rituals, rules and procedures, protocol, and shared visions to communicate thought and action. They also are studied in natural (opposed to "laboratory") settings in Group Communication in Context: Studies of Natural Groups by Lawrence Frey, who has artfully brought together case studies that illustrate actions and consequences that characterize communication within--and between--small groups.
Five major themes are presented: group identity, communication in the larger context, group development through communication, destructive communication patterns, and interaction in decision-making.
The AIDS, Chicago gangs, and witches' coven studies examine how communication helps groups survive--a critical feat, since these groups are among many that operate at society's edges, relying on symbolism and ritual. Language (form and content) plays a defining role in their existence.
Knowing the larger context helps us understand what group members are actually saying, and lends insight into the communication's true meaning. A city council exchange seems petty and mean-spirited until past conflicts between council members are noted.
Power and influence coalesce and strengthen through group communication. Strong leadership enabled a Detroit community group to organize and defeat a gambling bill, to become a powerful political action committee that expanded its involvement to other social issues.
We tend to cause our own problems. JFK's inside group of advisors relied heavily on secrecy and deception regarding Vietnam, resulting in an ever-widening credibility gap between the public and the cabal. And the "groupthink" and "uh-huh" mentalities that pervaded Nixon's White House created a faulty optimism that eventually helped topple the Watergate conspirators.
Two studies examine interaction in group decision-making--a group of five- to nine-year-olds, and participants in computer-mediated decision-making. The children learned to take turns and empower others (intimating that communication/leadership-building skills are ingrained during childhood). Amusingly, the adults revel at the chance to input without waiting their turn (a reflection perhaps of today's curt, high-tech rudeness).
Three epilogues place the studies into context, examining how they help us understand the compexities of group identity, discussing problems faced by the researchers, and validating the cast study method of researching small-group communication.
Case studies should be extremely useful to public relations professionals, offering valuable lessons of influence and persuasion in a realistic setting. The inclusion of research discussions (methodologies, data) may be a distraction to professionals unversed in academic research, but these details are necessary to validate conclusions. Group Communication in Context is fertile ground for further research.
The writing styles of the various authors meld together quite well, although it does vary from purely academic prose requiring heavy concentration, to gripping descriptions that can only be described as "page turners."
This is a "must read" for professionals working with small groups.
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