Describes a new technology called Group Decision Support Systems, which can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of meetings in a variety of organizational contexts. (SR)

Describes how the film "The Dream Team" can be used in a small group communication course as a visual case study, presenting clearly and in detail many of the most central group development processes, including cohesiveness, norms, roles, leadership, and group development. (SR)

Discusses alternatives to brainstorming such as the Trigger Method, the SIL (Successive Integration of Problem Elements) Method, the Wildest Idea, Brainwriting Pool, Method 6-3-5, Pin Cards, the Gallery Method, the Crawford Slip Method, and Nominal Group Technique. (JOW)

From its beginnings as a bush camp for hard-core juvenile delinquents, Project DARE has expanded to provide programs to a variety of troubled youth in Ontario, Canada. Programs include residential schools, remote wilderness adventure programs, and community-based experiential learning and recreational opportunities. (SV)

A matrix is presented for evaluating outdoor development programs. The four quadrants (narrow skills, broad skills, fun/enjoyment, self/other awareness) are ranged along two dimensions: tight to loose task approach and low to high intensity process. (SK)

A purposeful and positive approach to discipline benefits all members of the camp community. Staff should take a proactive approach to discipline by considering the basic needs of campers and keeping campers appropriately busy. Inappropriate behavior should be handled by discussing the behavior privately with the camper. (KS)

Discusses the need to expand spatial analysis based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and display methods to encompass group decision-making processes. Descriptions of enhancements and additions to software that will enable GIS technology to be used by groups are included. Issues highlighted include implementation and design. (54 references)…

Focuses on dilemma of how counselors' organizational groups sometimes function contradictory to professional knowledge and ideals. Explores group theory, expectations of counselors, and coping strategies to articulate how counselors may better understand and manage in an uncomfortable and distressful work group. Includes 37 references. (Author/CRR)

Used Jungian psychodynamics in investigation of participative community planning to enhance interpersonal cooperation, initiated primarily to aid the economic revival of Montana. Used search conference technique with Jungian psychodynamics and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to achieve better understanding of group economic revitalization.…

Describes how a university-affiliated women's support group coped with the serious illness and subsequent death of one of its members. Both individual and group reactions are noted. Also explores the normal grieving process, pathological grief reactions, and the relationship of death to group termination. (Author)

Describes how the guitar can be used to enrich a camp experience. The guitar has an attention-drawing quality, a group-bonding potential, and a mood-setting ability that make it effective in a variety of camp situations. Discusses some common problems with guitar use at camp, and offers recommendations for effective use. (KS)

Provides camp directors with ideas for building and maintaining a sense of community among their staff, including (1) establishing a vision statement; (2) conducting team-building activities during precamp training; (3) establishing a "full value-no discount" policy that encourages caring behaviors; and (4) reinforcing a sense of…

Presents an initial formulation of a dysfunctional group dynamic in which one focal individual creates a dysfunctional group. Identifies habits of individuals and properties of systems that result in the emergence of such an individual. Presents the interactional dynamics which constitute and sustain this group dynamic and discusses three types of…

Conducted ethnographic study of unique student organization, the Young Monarchists League, formed as a student political party to run against another campus party that was then in control of student government and the student senate. Study provides glimpse of the group from within and demonstrates difficulty of placing a group within a typology.…

Describes successful effort of small women's social services agency to modify its way of operating by means of problem-solving process involving board and staff members. Notes that conflict between staff members actually involved fundamental issues facing organization in transition from informal, volunteer effort to established, service-giving…