Kurt Lewin was known introduce such notion as group dynamics in the terminology of psychology and psychotherapy. With it, he implied the process of the interaction of social and psychological determinants influencing the behavior of individuals in groups and communities (O'Connell, Cuthbertson, 2009). Although Lewin was not involved in therapeutic practice, the term group dynamics is constantly used in the area of group therapy by such famous representatives as Carl Rogers, William Schutz, Stanislav Kratochvil, and others.
It is hard to disregard the significance of group dynamics, since the very idea and aim of group psychotherapy lies not just in the establishment of a certain group interaction, but in the dynamics of the development of groups and every individual in therapeutic direction. Appearing to be a process that is inseparable from the development of groups and individuals, group dynamics can by further divided into certain stages: unfreezing, moving, and refreezing (Meisenheimer 125-127).
At the first stage, the group's members start yielding to the influence of each other, the therapist, and the whole group. To be more precise, they get the ball rolling by moving from the point of the unconscious self-defense of their inner world, including the established attitude to their neurosis or any other psychological problem that have led them to join this group (Meisenheimer 125-127). However, this is not yet the acceptance of the others' opinions and influence, but just the removal of the defense that prevents from accepting it. This is mainly the acceptance of the outlined norms and regulations regarding the group's functioning and participating in its work. At this stage, a voluntary, but a very formalized community takes place. Furthermore, it should be remembered that there still exists a large gap between the individualistic differences of the group's members and, accordingly, the different speed and efficiency of moving through these processes. Indeed, there can be provided many examples from our personal life when we first became involved in a new group or community, whether it was school or a place of work. No doubt it appears to be quite difficult to immediately reject our personal experiences and established values, though it becomes easier to do afterwards.
The second stage introduces the outer acceptance of the group and its members, that is, the sincere readiness to listen to their opinions, and participate in discussions. It can be said that at this stage group dynamics promotes the informal unity of the group, that is, it foster the feeling of a certain «we» component, even at times of disputes regarding various issues and a certain degree of hostility among separate members.
At the third stage, there takes place the acceptance of the already established group values and opinions by the group's members as their own ones, as well as the readiness to operate these values on behalf of their own outside the group and in personal life.
Apart from the well-known opinion regarding the importance of group coherence, it should be also stated that, as practice shows, the majority of participants suffer enormously from physical and psychic loneliness, which usually correlates with a high degree of anxiety, the feeling of insecurity and uselessness. In successfully established communities, all members satisfy their natural human need of affiliation, belonging to the group decreases the feeling of anxiety, increases the feeling of psychic safety.
It should be also stated that this feeling of unity, belonging to a group of people who understand us and accept us as we are, and even experience the same problems, often appears to be so crucial for the group's members that they experience the change in the hierarchy of motives regarding group therapy sessions. That is, for these people the very communication starts representing a greater need than the solution of the problems that have led them to the group. Of course, these factors do not necessarily exclude each other, but rather mutually promote these feelings.
In his theory of group dynamics, Kurt Lewin based on the belief that a personality lives and develops in the psychological field of the things that surround it, with every phenomenon having a certain charge, valence (Mishra, 441-444). Lewin's experiments proved that valence has its unique sign for every person, though at the same time there exist such things that have the same attracting and repulsing power for everyone. By influencing a person, things excite certain needs in him, the needs that were considered by Lewin as certain energy charges that cause tension and stress. With that, Lewin distinguished two sorts of needs: biological and social needs. One of the most known Lewin's equations, with the help of which he described the behavior of a person in the psychological field under the influence of different needs, demonstrates the behavior appears to be both the function of personality and the psychological field (Mishra 544-546). However, if a person is not assigned to a certain action or the solution to the situation, but can change them by discharging the tension that affect him, it expands his adaptation possibilities.
In the final analysis, considering the enormous contribution of Lewin to group therapy, it becomes clear that his experiments demonstrated the importance of not just the holistic, but also the adequate understanding of ourselves. The notions and observations introduced by Lewin played a major role in the psychology of personality, as well as in understanding the causes of deviating behavior and its correction (O'Connell, Cuthbertson, 2009). At the same time, he underlined that a negative influence on behavior can be represented by the overstated and understated degree of pretension, since in both cases there takes place the disturbance in the possibility to establish a harmony with the environment.
Works Cited
Meisenheimer, Claire Gavin. Improving Quality: A Guide to Effective Programs. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen, 1992. 125-127. Print.
Mishra, Braj Kumar. Psychology ; the Study of Human Behaviour. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt., 2008. 441-444, 544-546. Print.
O'Connell, Timothy S., and Brent Cuthbertson. Group Dynamics in Recreation and Leisure: Creating Conscious Groups through an Experiential Approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2009. Print.
