Theories of Small Groups

Volume 17, Number 4 Article by Manu Parashar December, 2005

Theories of Small Groups: Interdisciplinary Perspectives : Edited by Marshall Scott Poole and Andrea B Hollingshead, Sage Publications, 2005, pp. 462, Price: $44.95 (paperback) :

This is a valuable reference book for students and researchers who want a quick introduction to the various approaches to group research. The book attempts to provide a comprehensive view of the current state of research on groups, using a multiple-perspective approach. This is a challenging objective for any book, especially in a field such as group research that operates through multiple ontological and epistemological lenses. An even greater challenge is to integrate these various views through a composite interdisciplinary lens to give a picture that is more complete than that provided by a single perspective. Notable books that have used multi-perspective analysis to effect include Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan and Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham T Allison.

The book covers nine perspectives of group research, these being the functional; psycho-dynamic; social identity; conflict, power and status; symbolic-interpretive; feminist; network; temporal; and evolutionary perspectives. These nine perspectives cover a large territory in group research, and each is covered by one paper. All the papers follow a similar structure, with a consistent flow which makes the book easy to read. The book utilises tables effectively, with two tables in each paper, one summarising the perspective in terms of definition, assumptions, group types, key theories, methodologies, strengths and weaknesses, and the other summarising the state of research in each perspective in terms of composition, structure, projects, interactions, outcomes and ecology. These tables are again consistent across perspectives making for ease of comparison. The various streams within each perspective have been well covered and each chapter also has areas for future inquiry which can provide directions to researchers. The last chapter analyses the various perspectives on seven touchstones — boundaries/embeddedness; competition; conflict and interdependence; causality; regulation of interaction; risk/uncertainty; cognition/intentionality; and time. Each paper seems to have referred to all the important pieces of work in the subject and the references alone would help any scholar using this as a reference book.

However, the book falls short of being a true multi-perspective/inter-disciplinary work. The last chapter that tries to compare and contrast the various perspectives reads like a summary of each perspective on each of the ‘touchstones’. What is missing is a good introductory chapter to group research where each of the perspectives could have been organised on a set of parameters. One such parameter is chronology, to get a sense of how group research evolved. The introductory chapter could have looked at the evolution of group research, at the influences from other disciplines, including the mother sciences from which group research has evolved, such as sociology, psychology, mathematics etc, as well as looking at it through evolving ontological lenses. The lack of a unifying chapter in the beginning makes the book a series of papers rather than a cohesive work on theories of small groups. This is a serious drawback, as each perspective has to be approached afresh without enough of a background on the evolution of group research. Students approaching the area of group research would find it rather difficult to navigate without a road-map given in the beginning. The concluding chapter could have also looked at whether there is any research taking place which uses multiple perspectives and whether such research is leading to new approaches.

One other thing that is not clear is why this book has been called ‘Theories of Small Groups’, because the small group in itself has not been defined. It is not clear how it is different from a large group. The book deals with groups in general, rather than groups of any specific size. A few other perspectives such as critical theory and post-modern thought could have been included, to provide a wider intellectual experience.

Overall, despite its shortcomings, this is a valuable book for it brings these nine perspectives on group research into a single volume. The stated target audience of the book consists of scholars and graduate students and it will fulfil its purpose for them. This will make a good reference book on group research and a quick way for a scholar to determine what interests him/her, who can then use the references given to delve deeper into that area. It can serve as a useful textbook for an introductory course on group research.

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