Our author, Susan Wheelan defined for us Webster's definition for a group as "a number of individuals, assembled together or having some unifying relationship"(Webster's Dictionary, 1989) and she additionally offered other definitions of what a group is by several social scientists who differ in their opinions on the same topic. Conclusively, she maintains that groups vary in size and that the influence of large to small groups is critical to the understanding of the small group's dynamics, behavior and development. (Wheelan,1994). We are all members of groups and I concur with our author that those memberships to family, religious, work, civic, and social groups strongly influence our behavior in smaller groups.
Most recently, I completed a leadership development course. It detailed the theories of development several leadership profiles and unknowingly, that course prepared me for the acceptance of the concept that groups are made up of leaders and followers. Presently, the role of each member is undeclared and appeared to be very flexible and interchangeable. Also our roles seemed to rely on the flow of the communication from within the group at any given session. Our communication inside the group was both verbal and non verbal and laced with an obvious air of anxiety and detachment. The communication among members was determined by the group's preference to be structured or unstructured. This formal and informal exchange was developed through stages and these stages were the key elements of the group's culture. .
My primary source of reference for this paper is from the book titled "Group Processes A Developmental Perspective" by author Susan Wheelan. Ms. Wheelan's piece offers numerous examples of research that specifically cite group and subgroup relations. She names, outlines and defines the seven factors or phases of group development (dependent, counter dependent, fight, flight pairs, counter pairing, and work) that are necessary for every group to experience in order to have success as a group.
