Theory and Practice of Group Counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Theory and Practice of Group Counseling - Essay Example By using theories, we attempt to explain, predict, and master. Generalizations and models come from the observations and this comprises of theories. (Theory, 2008.) Throughout the years, literature and studies regarding the disadvantages and manifestations of the group mind are consistent. Studies reveal that the descriptions and estimates of the group mind are undisputed. However, other areas of the group mind must be examined. Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (1951, page 32) reports, "There is no doubt that all the phenomena of the group mind which have just been mentioned have been correctly observed, but it is also possible to distinguish other manifestations of the group formation, which operate in a precisely opposite sense, and from which a much higher opinion of the group mind must necessarily follow." What has not been agreed upon is a question that still remains unanswered and according to Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego that concern is, "...how much the individual thinker or writer owes to the stimulation of the group in which he lives, or whether he does more than perfect a mental work in which the others ha ve had a simultaneous share." This book also refers to McDougall, author of The Group Mind. ... McDougall states, "On the whole, therefore, it is not so remarkable that we should see an individual in a group doing or approving things which he would have avoided in the normal conditions of life; and in this way we may even hope to clear up a little of the mystery which is so often covered by the enigmatic word 'suggestion'". (Page 23.) His theory is that the most crucial part in a group is the "exaltation or intensification of emotion" produced in every member of (the group)". (Page 24.) The group gives the individual a sense of unlimited power and replaces the human society, thus the individual will do and approve of things that he/she normally would not do. This theory does, however, state that in a group the minds with lower intelligence bring down the minds of higher intelligence to their level. Lebon states that McDougall's theory goes against a highly organised group's behaviour so he lists five "principal conditions" that must take place in order to raises a group's mental level: 1. There should be some degree of continuity of existence (either material or formal) in the group. 2. In the individual member of the group some definite idea should be formed of the nature, composition, functions and capacities of the group. From this he/she may develop an emotional relation to the group as a whole. 3. The group should be brought into interaction (perhaps in the form of rivalry) with other groups similar to it but differing from it in many respects. 4. The group should possess traditions, customs and habits, and especially such as determine the relations of its members to one another. 5. The group should have a definite structure, expressed in the specialisation