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The Development of the Tavistock and Tavistock-Inspired Group Relations Movement in Great Britain and the United States: a Comparative and Historical Perspective

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The Development of the Tavistock and Tavistock-Inspired Group Relations Movement in Great Britain and the United States: a Comparative and Historical Perspective University of San Diego Digital USD Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2002 The Development of the Tavistock and Tavistock-Inspired Group Relations Movement in Great Britain and the United States: A Comparative and Historical Perspective Amy L. Fraher EdD University of San Diego Follow this and additional works at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations Part of the Leadership Studies Commons Digital USD Citation Fraher, Amy L. EdD, "The Development of the Tavistock and Tavistock-Inspired Group Relations Movement in Great Britain and the United States: A Comparative and Historical Perspective" (2002). Dissertations. 692. https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/692 This Dissertation: Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital USD. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital USD. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TAVISTOCK AND TAVISTOCK-INSPIRED GROUP RELATIONS MOVEMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNTTED STATES: A COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE By Amy L. Fraher A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor o f Education University of San Diego 2002 Dissertation Committee Robert Donmoyer, Ph.D., Chair Theresa Monroe, Ed.D. Michael Gonzalez, Ph.D. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv Abstract In order to gain a deeper understanding of authority, people must analyze human behavior in groups. To study these behaviors, a group relations movement was spawned approximately 60 years ago and has influenced people's thinking about leadership and authority in groups and organizations ever since. This study analyzed primary and secondary historical sources, including data from extended videotaped interviews the researcher conducted with thirteen group relations experts throughout the United States and Great Britain, as a way to reconstruct the history of a significant part of the group relations movement. These videotaped interviews are available for viewing. Specifically, the study first details the foundational theories of the group relations movement, and then explores the emergence of methods developed in post-Woridn War England by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. It follows the exportation of the Tavistock method to the United States and the evolution of the A. K. Rice Institute (AKRI) that was developed to work within the Tavistock tradition in America. Since the AKRI has maintained limited primary sources and generated few historical records, interview data were especially important in reconstructing its history. In addition, an indigenous American group relations model, the National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science (NTL) model, was examined as part of an effort to indicate how factors in the United States context led to significant modifications in the Tavistock approach when it was transported to America. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V Copyright by Amy L. Fraher, 2002 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vi Dedication In memory of Dr. Eric J. Miller (1924-2002) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Second Coming By William Butler Yeats Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand... Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. viii Acknowledgements Although my interest in the field of group relations began only three years ago, my fascination with human behavior in groups and the influence of organizational systems on work life started well over twenty years ago. While on this path of discovery, my journey included exciting explorations to far off places and conversations with astute people from a variety of walks of life—all of whom welcomed me warmly, often into their homes, with a prodigious respect for both my personal quest for inner knowledge as well as the merit of my dissertation research. My life has been enriched by this quest and by the creation of this dissertation. For this enrichment, I owe many people a debt of gratitude. I would first like to thank my dissertation committee: Dr. Bob Donmoyer for his patient editing lessons and hours of guidance and support over lattes at Peets; Dr. Terri Monroe for exposing me to the field of group relations and for the idea of researching the history of group relations; and Dr. Michael Gonzalez for your support and good-natured critiques. I would next like to thank the informants in my study for their time and interest in my research: Wesley Carr, Larry Gould, Vangie Holvino, Ed Klein, Gordon Lawrence, Isabel Menzies Lyth, Eric Miller, Terri Monroe, Anton Obholzer, Diane Porter, Ed Shapiro, Mannie Sher, and Kathy White. Without their Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ix assistance, this project would not have been completed as smoothly or expeditiously. I am grateful to the staff of the Tavistock Institute, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, the A. K. Rice Institute, in particular Anne-Marie H. Kirkpatrick, and the National Training Laboratories for their support and assistance. I would like to thank Rudi Vaca of San Diego State University for his assistance with videotaping techniques and Karen Sharpe of the University of San Diego's Copley Library. I would like to thank my fellow doctoral students at the University of San Diego for their camaraderie and support, in particular, Bob Brown, Cristina Chiriboga, Helen Eckman, John McCloskey, Alana Nicastro, and Shelly Marks. I would also like to thank the women of the "Let's Finish" writing group for helping me to "finish." I am grateful to Mary Rafferty and Marian Urquilla for their ideas and critiques, for reading drafts of this document, and most of all, for letting me vent. I would like to thank my family and friends for their patience and nurturing support when I communed, yet again, with my computer for the day. I also appreciate that—even though you often had no idea what I was talking about—you always asked and listened anyway. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. X Finally, I would like to thank my partner Kathy Jones for her unconditional love, selfless support, and solid strength. Your immeasurable confidence in me, especially at times when my own convictions wavered, allowed me to test the outer boundaries of my psyche. I am a better person because of you. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Approval page ........................................................................................................ ii Human Subjects Committee Clearance................................................................. iii Abstract ................................................................................................................. iv Copyright................................................................................................................ v Dedication............................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements.............................................................................................. viii List of Appendices................................................................................................ xv Chapter I: Introduction.......................................................................................... 1 Background to the Study..................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement............................................................................................. 2 Purpose o f the Study........................................................................................... 2 Research Questions............................................................................................ 3 Methods...............................................................................................................3 Limitations of the Study......................................................................................9 Overview of the Dissertation............................................................................ 10 Chapter II: Intellectual Foundations of the Group Relations Movement 11 Introduction...................................................................................................... 11 The Psychoanalytic Tradition ........................................................................... 11 The Influence of Other Traditions.................................................................... 18 Bion.................................................................................................................. 20 The Tradition of Open Systems Theory............................................................28
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