About the Book

"They have done this with a rich, provocative, and creative conceptual vocabulary that will resonate for readers who practice, supervise others' practice, teach about or do research in group life and group work."
-Paul H. Ephross, MSW, PhD, Professor, University of Maryland School of Social Work

Group Communication Pitfalls: Overcoming Barriers to an Effective Group Experience treats groups and the work involved in grouping as useful tools humans have developed for responding to pressures or demands faced by group members. This book assumes an orientation that expects and detects group pitfalls as they arise, providing students with the foundation for overcoming barriers to effective group experiences. By assuming this orientation, authors John O. Burtis and Paul D. Turman offer readers a map of the group pitfall terrain and demonstrate how people working well together can use the struggle against such pitfalls to improve their groups.

Key Features

• Provides students with a unifying theoretical framework and pedagogical orientation, which organizes a very broad range of research findings into tight and useful classifications
• Takes a comprehensive approach that frames current small group communication literature through a theoretical lens provided by Breakdown-Conducive Group Theory
• Reviews research findings from a variety of methodological perspectives and directly describes applications of the concepts discussed across each chapter
• Offers extensive skills enhancing material to help students apply the theoretically based concepts discussed in the book

While other texts cover cursory material on group pitfalls and miscommunication, it is the primary focus of this text and gives students practical recommendations to correct those pitfalls. Group Communication Pitfalls is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on small group communication such as Advanced Group Communication, Group Dynamics, and Group Processes. It can also be used as a supplemental text in courses that focus on group interaction.

Table of Contents:
Preface Unit I: We Co-construct Our Groups by Communicating 1. Why Study Group Communication Pitfalls? Overview of the Book Why Do Groups Matter Enough to Make a Study of Them? Definitions of "Communication", "Group", and "Pitfalls" Casting a Wide Net to Include All Pitfalls and Breakdown Group Communication Pitfalls by Commission or by Omission The Breakdown-Conducive Group Framework Why Should We Focus Our Study of Groups on Group Communication Pitfalls? 2. How Grouping and Group Direction Help Create Effective Group Experiences The Universals of Grouping Activity The Framework for Grouping and Group Direction Rhetorical Situation and a Purgatory Puddle Unit II: We Struggle to Co-construct and Frame Our Circumstances and Processes 3. Pitfalls in Task and Supragroup Exigencies Groups as Systems Purgatory Puddle Pitfalls Supragroup Pitfalls Wrong Task for a Group How to Expect, Detect, and Correct These Pitfalls 4. Personnel Pitfalls "Wrong Group for the Task" Pitfalls Traits Orientation Style Circumstances How to Expect, Detect, and Correct These Pitfalls 5. Pitfalls in Grouping Techniques, Tendencies, and Process Prizes Grouping Techniques Technique Pitfalls Grouping Tendencies: Norms and Roles Norm Pitfalls Role Pitfalls Process Prizes Process Prize Pitfalls Deliberation Outcome Pitfalls 6. Pitfalls in Confusion, Conformity, Conflict, and Group Consciousness: Grouping Concomitants Confusion Pitfalls Conformity Pitfalls Conflict Pitfalls Consciousness Pitfalls How to Expect, Detect, and Correct These Pitfalls 7. Pitfalls in Vision and Direction Giving Vision/Outcome Pitfalls Savior Complex Pitfalls Ascension Pitfalls Transitions Pitfalls How to Expect, Detect, and Correct These Pitfalls Unit III: We Co-construct Our Exigencies for Grouping Into Our Group Outcomes 8. (Un)Intended Group Outcomes Dynamics Involved in Potential Group Outcomes A Set of Potential Group Outcomes 9. To Group or Not to Group, That Is the Question General Exigencies Against Grouping Distrust of Grouping Distrust of Self as a Grouping Member Distrust of Any Aspect of This Particular Grouping Effort Inertia and Specific Exigencies Against Grouping How Exigencies Against Grouping May Manifest Expecting, Detecting, and Correcting These Pitfalls: General Orientational Advice 10. Observing Groups Well Observing Groups Improving Observational Focus and Quality Observing the Purgatory Puddle Observing The Way/Process Observing the Vision/Outcome and the Savior Complex