Historical Timeline of Group Process

The history of groups started when humankind existed.

1800s:
Groups were formed for functional and pragmatic reasons
Large in number
 Primary emphasis on information, instruction and/or correction of behaviors
Immigrants and the poor receive special attention
Social workers and Physicians use group structure to increase awareness of self
 Mid 1800s : Moral therapy – showed how therapeutic groups could be structured and tailored to
meet their individual needs.
 Hull House – focuses on promoting reciprocal relationships and increasing “individual self
determination and self-respect”.
Overall the development of groups in 1800s was a dynamic movement which included
contributions from psychology, sociology, philosophy and education.
 Group movement developed due to the need for social reform and education.

1900s:
 Joseph Hersey Pratt – organized the first formal group experience, wrote about the dynamics
that occur within group settings and served as model for other leaders exploring processes
within their groups. He recognized the therapeutic power of groups.
 1907: Jesse B. Davis – stressed the functionality of a group as an environment in which to learn
life skills and values.
 1908: After the death of Frank Parsons, counselors in many guidance settings and other such
agencies used groups as a way of dispensing information and providing educational and
vocational guidance.

1910-1919
 World War I: Psychological groups tests (e.g. Alpha and Beta intelligence tests) were
developed and administered.
Groups were used in a limited way to treat combat fatigued soldiers.
Emphasis on teamwork.
During this decade there was growth in select schools and organizations on group guidance and
psychoeducational approaches to learning in groups.
 Europe: J.L. Moreno – published a philosophical paper on group methods under the name J.M.
Levy. He had a major impact on the development of group theory and practice in U.S. and
Europe. His writings stressed the psychoanalytic and social psychological perspectives of
individuals working together.

1920 -1929
Group guidance and counseling efforts were initiated in a new from.
  J.L. Moreno – Helped promote the growth of group work by employing theatrical techniques
with people who were psychologically disturbed.

o 1921: He formulated the “Theatre of Spontaneity”, a forerunner of psychodrama which

influenced other theorists such as Fritz Perls and William Schutz.
o Ideas stemming from psychodrama such as role playing, the taking of “stage center”, the
emphasis on here-and-now interaction, the promotion of catharsis, the focus on
emphasis, and the encouragement of group members helping each other are incorporated
in many forms of group experiences today.
 Alfred Adler’s Collective Counseling – attributed as a major breakthrough to the systematic use
of groups in counseling. This type of counseling has been used as early as 1922. Through the
use of group techniques, the family is able to realize that problems with children usually are
related to problems in the family.
 Family group meetings or family councils were also devised by Adler to resolve difficulties and
improve family relations.
 During 1930s and 1940s, investigation of small group phenomenon by social scientists led to the
concept of groups becoming more respected, and the power of groups being more recognized.

1930-1939
Noted in group work history for 5 major events:
 Increase in group guidance and psychoeducational publications and practices.
J.L. Moreno continued to make write and make creative presentations.
 There was an increase in the number and quality of field work studies by sociologists such as
Muzafer Sherif, Theodore Newcomb, and W.E. Whyte.
 The founding of the first major self help group in America, Alcoholics Anonymous.
Movement of psychoanalytical treatment into the group domain.

1940-1949
 World War II and 1940s: often seen as the beginning of modern group work period. 2 major
directions in the development of groups:
o 1) Theoretical writings and practices of Kurt Lewin and Wilfred Bion
o 2) Establishment of group organizations.
Lifton observed that the climate with which groups work during this time reflected American
and British Society’s reaction against authoritarianism and emphasized democracy.
 1940-1945: Kurt Lewin – recognized as the most influential founder and promoter of group
dynamics.
o Field Theory – Lewin’s approach emphasizes the interaction between individuals and their
environments. Based on ideas of Gestalt psych in which there is interdependence in
part/whole relationships.
o The group is a whole that is different from and greater than the parts that compose it.
o Lewin “the practical theorist” established a workshop that led to the formation of the
National Training Laboratories (NTL) and the Basic Skills Training Group (BST)
which evolved into the Training Group (T-Group) movement.
o Other major contributions of Lewin includes: the discovery that group discussions are
superior to individual instruction in changing people’s ideas and behaviors, his works
emphasis on here-and-now orientation, his point that changes in group behavior depend on
 an “unfreezing” and “freezing” process of human behavior. He also initiated the
application of the concept of feedback to group work.
 Wilfred Bion – stated that group phenomena may be radically different from those within a
family. His focus was on group cohesiveness and forces that foster the progression or regression
of the group.
o Bion characterized the emotional patterns of a group as either a:
 “W” (work group)
 “BA” (basic assumption) activity – an antiwork group which could be broken
down into:
• BA Dependency (members are dependent on the group leader)
• BA Pairing (members are interested in being with each other than in
working on a goal)
• BA Fighting (members become preoccupied with either engaging in or
avoiding hostile conflict)
 During the 1940s, 2 major group organizations and publications were founded:
o American Society if Group Psychotherapist and Psychodrama (ASGPP) – established
by J.L. Moreno during the 1940s.
o American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) – a psychoanalytically oriented
organization established by Samuel R. Slavson in 1943.
1950-1959
This era was characterized by a greater refinement in all aspects of group work.
 1950: Bales - noted that in most groups, typed roles tend to emerge over time and listed 12
broad categories from positive reactions to negative reactions.
 Group procedures began to be applied to the practice of family counseling.
 Rudolph Dreikurs – pioneered in the area of family counseling. He applied Adler’s theory and
ideas in setting up these groups, which were primarily psychoeducational.
 John Bell – beginning as early as 1951, he conducted family therapy sessions and relied on
stimulating open discussions in order to solve family problems and, as in group counseling,
encouraged silent members to speak up and share ideas.
 Nathan Acherman, Gregory Bateson, Virginia Satir – their independent but similar focus was
in modifying the psychoanalytic model of group therapy and developed techniques for treating
dysfunctions in families.
 Implementation of new group concepts.
o A group “vocabulary” was developed to describe phenomena within group sessions. 3
o Terminology for working with groups mushroomed in the 1950s.
 1958: Counseling and Learning through Small-Group Discussion - First textbook in group
work by Helen I. Driver.
 Group guidance was replaced by Group Counseling in the late 1950s as a major way to bring
about behavioral changes, especially in educational settings.
 Group psychotherapy increased in popularity as tranquilizing drugs made working with groups
in mental health settings viable.
 W. Edwards Demming – Japanese work/task group master who directed the implementation of
new types of groups called “quality groups” which would later influence American industry in
the 1980s.

1960-1969
  In this era, group work especially group counseling and psychotherapy became popular.
Some of the most creative leaders in the history of group work came into prominence during
this time.
 1968: Group practice became so poplar that The New York Times designated this year as “the
year of the group.”
Many forms of group work were invented and/or refined.
Two of the most popular groups were:
o Encounter group – Carl Rogers coined the term basic encounter group, later shortened,
to describe his approach to group work.
 Often known as personal growth groups because the emphasis in these groups is on
personal development.
 Sometimes referred as sensitivity groups, a term that focuses on individuals’
awareness of their own emotional experiences and the behaviors of others.
 Emphasis is placed on the awareness of and exploration of intrapsychic and
interpersonal issues.
o Marathon group – first devised by George Bach and Fred Stoller in 1956 as a way of
helping people become more authentic with themselves and switch from “the marketing
stance of role-playing and image making”
 These groups are usually held for extended periods of time (e.g., 24 or 48 hrs) and
group members are required to stay together.
 Fatigue is an important factor and self-growth through interaction with others is the
hopeful result of such groups.
 Abuses came with the popularity of the group movement. Publicity seekers, entrepreneurs or
unqualified individuals set up groups which attracted negative publicity. Some also made cults
out of groups and impaired the functioning of those who participated in their activities.
 Among the most popular theorist practitioners of this decade were those who took a humanistic-
existential orientation namely: Fritz Perls, Eric Berne, William Schutz, Jack Gibb, George Bach,
Carl Rogers.

1970-1979
 Groups continued to grow but with controversy.
 Janis created the term groupthink to emphasize the detrimental power that groups may exert
over their members to conform.
 Lifton’s book of this period reflects the turmoil and concern surrounding the use of groups that
had begun in the 1960s.
 The controversy surrounding groups in the late 1960s was due to their rapid growth and the fact
that guidelines for leadership and the conducting of group experiences themselves were not well
defined.
 Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) was formed in 1973 as a divisional
affiliate within the American Counseling Association.
o Active throughout the decade in promoting responsible group leadership and setting up
standards under which group leaders should operate.
 Group Research came into prominence during this era.
 Irvin Yalom and George Gazda (1970) – analyzed group methods and processes and described
11 “curative (therapeutic) factors” within groups that contributed to the betterment of
individuals.
  Yalom and Lieberman found that leadership style in groups greatly influences how individuals
fare in such settings.
 Gazda was largely responsible for collecting primary accounts of how different group workers
conceptualized and practiced their approaches and later developed a rationale for developmental
group counseling in the 1980s.

1980-1989
 The popularity of group work for the masses increased, as did the continued professionalism of
the group movement itself.
 The American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) published a collection of articled
edited by James Durkin (1981) that examined how general systems theory could be utilized in
groups.
Self-help groups mushroomed. These mutually supportive groups usually were led by
paraprofessionals or group members.
Psychoeducational groups also received attention during this decade.
 George Gazda, first president of AGPA proposed the use of developmental group counseling
with multiple populations for teaching basic life skills.
 By the end of 1980s, group work was recognized as a viable means of helping individuals in a
variety of settings. More types of groups were available more than ever.

1990 to the Present

Group work continued to flourish.
 The American Group Psychotherapy Association celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1992.
A number of new books were published as well as a plethora of scholarly articles.
Group work became increasingly utilized in school settings.
 In 1990, ASGW approved and published professional standards for the training of group
workers.
 The 1990s were filled with a wide variety of self-help groups and support groups.
 Parenting groups became more popular, the number of cooperative learning groups increased,
and focus groups provided important information fro businesses and politicians.
 Quality groups were set up among workers to promote teamwork, increase morale and
efficiency, and ensure that more attention was paid to how tasks were completed.