During divorce, women feel dependent and confused. Whether intended or not, the direction of a woman's growth (indeed, whether or not there is any) will reflect the counselor's belief in what is possible and appropriate for women. (Author)

The interaction between leaders and members in a year-long family therapy seminar is systematically compared to the process that unfolds between therapist and family during the course of family therapy. The dynamic elements of each stage of development are analyzed and factors affecting their development are identified. (Author)

A role analysis chart, developed to measure group processes interactions, is adapted for use in training sessions on the conduct of effective meetings. (MF)

This article labels some types of general group silence in group counseling and offers some techniques which have been found useful in dealing with these silences. (Author)

The committee process is notoriously susceptible to manipulation. A real pro develops ploys to insure that meetings run exactly as he or she intends. The author here presents tips on how the social worker can guard against such strategies. (Author)

Reviews group-based social psychological work. Focuses on the need for improved outcome criteria with which school psychologists can assess the quality of group decision making, the power of majorities in groups, the value of minority dissent, group polarization, and the establishment of shared norms. Examines implications for psychologists. (RJM)

Open meetings are regularly scheduled times when all class members and the teacher sit together in a closed circle to discuss important topics, such as name-calling. Such meetings are structured, moving from reviewing ground rules to posing a warmup question, encouraging numerous perspectives, personalizing the topic, and challenging students to…

Camps can increase campers' self-esteem through "I-Can't funerals," camper information forms, noncompetitive atmosphere, positive behavior management, Socratic rule deduction, camper selection of activities, public commendations, and de-emphasis of physical attractiveness. Effects on self-esteem are given for each suggestion. Sidebars…

The characteristics of fun are that it is relative, situational, voluntary, and natural. Fun can have a positive effect on the learning process by inviting intrinsic motivation, suspending one's social inhibitions, reducing stress, and creating a state of relaxed alertness. Includes summary of questionnaire responses from 20 experiential education…

Replies to Billig's (1995) critique of his paper on the relations between language and ideology. The article argues that the paper critiqued is tentative and maintains that social cognition should not be reduced to structures of interaction or rhetoric. The article also emphasizes that ideologies are crucial in the cognitive and social management…

Asserts that associations between child and adolescent aggression and competence need to be understood according to basic aspects of group process, such as dominance, resource control, and regulation of retaliatory gestures between group members. Maintains that although moderately aggressive children may be given status and power within the peer…

Camp directors who do not seek feedback from staff, campers, and parents waste valuable resources, need to develop their leadership skills, and could obstruct camp growth. Combined with satisfaction surveys and goal setting, ongoing feedback will contribute to a more accurate camp program evaluation than one based on the camp director's memory.…

An account of an early outdoor leadership experience illustrates that a trip leader's role is to build a team capable of accomplishing goals without dependence on the leader. Only when campers are taken beyond their comfort zones does true learning and emotional growth begin. Sidebar presents eight dos and three don'ts of good trip leadership. (TD)

Gives results of a survey on the nature of, and the services offered by, suicide survivor groups. Results indicate that most groups are sponsored by mental health or social service agencies, have operated eight to nine years on average, and have fewer than 10 people typically in attendance at meetings. Other findings are reported. (RJM)

Investigates the differential effects of cooperative learning with or without metacognitive instruction on lower and higher achievers' solutions of mathematical authentic tasks. Results indicate that students exposed to metacognitive instruction within cooperative learning (COOP+META) significantly outperformed their counterparts exposed to…