Toward the Study of Society in Microcosm: Critical Problems of Group Relations Conferences

In the first half of this article, the authors consider the basic structure, culture, and technique developed for the Group Relations Conference, which aims to be an open institution for studying in microcosm the working problems of society. They argue that the traditional culture and technique are nondevelopmental, hence can do very little about societal dynamics simply being replayed in conferences, which in turn lowers the morale of these events seriously. They believed that the inherent development thrust of conference members could be as powerful as the regressive instincts and class interests that ordinarily overrun conferences, if the interferences with group development were carefully attended to by consultants. Two experimental conferences have confirmed the hypothesis and, furthermore, shown the phases of the critical second-stage development, in which group members make prominent and master the inherent aggression in groups about differences.