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1 day ago

Jenna Lee 

DB 5

COLLAPSE

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            The most common problem situation that I would like to elaborate on and have had experience with is the dominator. The dominator is a member who tries to rule the group (Jacobs et al., 2018) From my personal experience from leading groups in my residential setting where dominator's are common in, this individual was the oldest of the group and liked to be heard and hear herself speak. She also liked to put the leader, whether it was myself or my co-leader, on the spot and trying to prove us wrong or make us look bad in many ways. She tried to lead the group and speak for others in the group. Many times, we have had to ask the individual to leave the group and we would process with them after the group was over. There were times she was told to “stay in her lane” by members letting her know that she was crossing the line. (This is a phrase we use on the unit where it is letting someone know boundaries are being crossed that should not be crossed) Sometimes, even the other members would ask her to leave so someone else could talk or so that the actual leader could lead the group. 

            Dominator's are fairly common in residential treatment settings, and in school groups. (Jacobs et al., 2018) They like to try and lead the group and sometimes they feel they could run it better than the leader. They want to have control over a topic that they can have more say so in the discussion. They can also feel that they can give better advice to the group if they control the topic that they choose. This can lead to conflict between members because some members are in the group because they want to be. They want to learn what the leader has to offer and grow from the experience. Others may want to have a different topic to discuss and they start arguing with the dominator. This can also rile up members who are forced to be in the group to essentially help the dominator gang up on the leader. This can make individuals uncomfortable and unwilling to share in fear that they will get criticized by the dominator and possibly make them not want to return to future groups. Once individuals gain power over others, they tend to defend their sources of power through manipulation, the formation of coalitions, information control, and favoritism…but they nonetheless cause waves of tension, conflict, and anger to ripple through the group. (Forsyth, 2017) 

            Knowing how to handle these situations is crucial to leading groups. Proverbs 15:1 says, A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. We must be calm, collected and skilled to be able to deescalate situations that could arise from troublemakers. 

Word count: 473

 References

Forsyth, D. (2017). Group Dynamics (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Jacobs, E. E., Schimmel, C. J., Masson, R. L., & Harvill, R. L. (2018). Group Counseling: Strategies and Skills (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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