weird group theory

Blah. This is my public revolt against reading anything else for school. So, I think was something like 20 readings I had to do to get ready for the first weekend of my class. And now I have about 8, and it's easier reading, but I'm revolting.

I don't like group theory. That's a lie. The inquisitive and curious side of me wants to know all about it. The logical and rational side of me doesn't want to know anything more about.

We covered 15 different theorists last time we met. The original class had 21 in the first weekend, but they managed to drill it down to 15. I think I could have done with about 5... but no.

What I don't like about group theory is the loss of control. I'm probably going to mix up the theories talking about it, but basically here's the deal. A bunch of people did a bunch of studies with groups. They basically had theories on how groups form and interact, and were able to consistently see patterns of behavior. The people were able to decide that groups go through various phases - the storming, norming, etc phase that is most popular. But there is also a dependency phase, co-dependency, etc. And there's even one where a group will start "splitting" it's emotions and create a scapegoat in the group to hold all of that. This because becomes the reason why the group can't function, etc., and if the scapegoat is removed, the group picks another person to replace it.

All of that is very interesting, but my cognitive mind can't wrap around that. In the sense that they theorist is saying that the group is performing these actions without it's own knowledge. Meaning, the person you don't like in the group you work with, and other people feel the same way, may not be for legitimate reasons - it may be that the group is looking for a scapegoat. And if the person is gone, the group will find someone else to pinpoint. To think that I am unknowingly contributing to this behavior doesn't sit well with me. But that is just one example. Another is that when a group first forms, they look to the leader as a parent, wanting the parent to tell them exactly what to do. And when the parent is trying to treat them like adults and give them choices, the group revolts and the leader/parent becomes "bad".

Basically, groups do this all the time - the behavior has been tested and tested again. So to think that I do that - make someone a 'parent,' 'scapegoat' etc. - without my own knowledge is weird.