Group dynamics--a point of view. People, interaction, and change

Group dynamics is analyzed both as a science and as an art. Three major elements--people, their interaction, and the change emanating from that interaction--are discussed. People come together as a group with basic needs, such as the need to feel important. Ideally, they will feel some cooperative sense of unity; inevitably, they will interact. Passive, verbal, or restless--as the case may be--they will influence one another toward a positive or a negative goal. For a successful, total group experience, good leadership is essential, with planning to insure a climate of discovery, properly budgeted time, and realistic goals, with allowances for limitations. Group participants help each other learn, and spectators become doers who achieve goals. Guidelines, techniques, and recommended reading accompany the article.