(1890-1947)
"The creation of an empirically verifiable theory, Lewin knew, was the essence of science; research, therefore, had to be guided by the need to develop an integrated concept of the processes of group life" (Marrow, 1969, p.183). With this in mind, Lewin established the Research Center on Group Dynamics at Massachusetts's Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). The following six major program areas were developed... (1) Group productivity: why was it that groups are so ineffective in getting things done? (2) Communication: how influence is spread throughout a group. (3) Social perception: how a person's group affected the way they perceived social events. (4) Intergroup relations. (5) Group membership: how individuals adjust to these conditions. (6) training leaders: improving the functioning of groups (T-groups).
"The chief methodological approach would be that of developing actual
group experiments of change, to be carried on in the laboratory or
in the field" (Marrow, 1969, p.179). Group life was to be viewed in
its totality, not on an individual basis. Lewin vowed that C.C.I.
would not just find working methods, but would not quit until these
methods were put into action. The group dynamic studies should be
carried out in real life situations, concentrating on fighting prejudice.
Going along with these, Lewin and his colleagues established three
major research areas of priority (Marrow, p.192): Lewin's group dynamics has been utilized in such areas as educational
facilities, industrial settings, and communities. Great improvements
have been made in these areas of interest throughout the twentieth
century. (1) Gang Behavior: Religious services had been disturbed on Yom Kippur by a gang of Italian Catholics. Lewin assembled a group of workers comprised of Catholics, Jews, Negroes, and Protestants. The groups first action was to get the four young men who were arrested for the crime put into the custody of local priests and the Catholic Big Brothers. Next, they involved as many community members as possible to make improvements more likely. It was decided that the act was not one of anti-Semitism, but one of general hostility. Likewise, it was not a problem that could be solved by sending the men to jail. The solution was to eliminate the frustrations of community life by establishing better housing, enhancing transportation, and building recreational facilities. These would allow members of different backgrounds and groups to integrate. Plans were put into motion to get the projects completed. The members of the gang kept in contact, and within a year, conditions had improved greatly. There seemed to be no change in attitude toward the Negroes and Jews, but aggression towards them had ceased. (2) Law and Social Change: Lewin believed that prejudice caused discrimination, not resulted from it, and altering that behavior could change attitudes. "He held that if universities were required by law to admit students on merit and not on the basis of race or religion, the practice would bring new and more favorable attitudes" (Marrow, 1969, p.204). If the support of discrimination is taken away, the base will be weakened. Discrimination could be overcome by enforcing legislation with community education. Using this, the Medical School of Columbia University was sued for their quota on how many Jews were permitted to enroll. The case was settled out of court, which led to the revision of quotas in leading colleges and universities throughout the United States. (3) Integration of Negro Sales Personnel: Facts were compiled about department stores not hiring Negro personnel because the customers may object to it. Customers were interviewed who had dealt with Negro clerks, those who had dealt with white clerks, and white persons on the street. Those twelve who responded in a prejudiced manor were asked if they would continue to shop at that particular store with Negro sales people. They said no, but previously five of them had been observed shopping at a counter with a Negro sales person. Over sixty percent of the others surveyed said they would still shop at the department store. It was concluded that even if a customer is prejudiced, it did not influence where they shopped, or who they purchased goods from--a white or Negro clerk. Therefore, fear of sales declining was not supported by the evidence.
1890 Born in Moglino, Prussian province of Posen 1914 Enters Army for four years during WWI 1916 Completed Ph.D., University of Berlin 1917 Married Maria Landsberg 1919 Daughter, Agnes, born 1921 Privatdozent, University of Berlin 1922 Son, Fritz, born 1924 Student Bluma Zeigarnik completes study on recall of uncompleted tasks 1927 Promoted to Ausserordentlicher Professor 1929 Remarried Gertrud Weiss 1931 Daughter, Miriam, born 1932 Visiting Professor, Stanford University 1933 Son, Daniel, born 1933 Fled Germany to United States 1933 Faculty, Cornell University 1935 Published "A Dynamic Theory of Personality" 1935 Professor, University of Iowa 1936 Published "Principles of Topological Psychology" 1940 Becomes American citizen 1942 President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues 1944 Organized Research Center For Group Dynamics,M.I.T. 1944 Established Commission on Community Interrelations (C.C.I.) 1944 Mother killed in Nazi Extermination camp 1946 Published Psychological Problems in Jewish Education 1946 Published "Frontiers in Group Dynamics" 1947 Created National Laboratories Training 1947 Died
Hothersall, David. (1995). History of Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. pp. 239-253. Marrow, Alfred F. (1969). The Practical Theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Schultz, Duane P., and Sydney Ellen Schultz. (1994). Psychology and Work Today. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 204. T-Group Theory and Laboratory Method. (1964). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Worchel, Stephen, and Wayne Shebilske. (1992). Psychology: Principles and Applications. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 604. |
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