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University Microfilms INFORMATION TO USERS This dissertation was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. 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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company 72-27,065 McENIRY, Robert Francis, 1918- THE EXISTENTIAL APPROACH TO ENCOUNTER IN ROLLOMAY. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 Psychology, general ] University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan ! f © Copyright by Robert Francis McEniry 1972 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN' MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE EXISTENTIAL APPROACH TO ENCOUNTER IN ROLLO MAY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Robert Francis McEniry, B. A ., A. M. * * * * * The Ohio State University 1972 Approved by idviser Collegtf of Education PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company Hate is not the opposite of love. A pathy is . --Rollo May In trying to give, You see that you have nothing. Seeing that you have nothing, You try to give of yourself. Trying to give of yourself, You see that you are nothing. Seeing that you are nothing, You desire to become. In desiring to become, You begin to live. --Rene Daumal ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to these persons who have, in countless ways, gone the extra mile to aid me in this study: Anthony C. Riccio, College of Education, The Ohio State University, for being my principal adviser; Joseph J. Quaranta, College of Education, The Ohio State University, for valuable feedback on the manuscript; Donald Tosi, College of Education, The Ohio State University, for dialogue which helped clarify Chapter 111; John Ohliger, College of Education, The Ohio State University, for special suggestions on Chapter V; Robert Monaghan, Department of Speech, The Ohio State University, for assistance in aspects of communication; Edgar Dale, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University, for help in the writing process; Ruth Jones, Department of Photography, The Ohio State University, for help in selecting media; Mary Catherine McKee, Notre Dame College, St. Louis, Missouri, for advice on films; George Barber, Department of Photography, The Ohio State University, for providing screening facilities; Richard Huelsman* for assistance with audio m aterials; Ruth M. Er lands on, Professor of University Libraries at The Ohio State University, for research consultation; iii E-Sui K. Wei, for MEDLARS research; Ross Poll, Linda Drake, Lena Ross, Patricia Marsh, reference librarians at The Ohio State University, for expertise in locating sources; Terry Campbell, Teaching Aids Laboratory, The Ohio State University, for graphics; Donna Rogers, for creative collaboration in preparing the versions of the manuscript. VITA February 22, 1918 . .............................. Born--Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1941................................................................B.A ., St. Louis University St. Louis, Missouri 1944.............................. ................................. M. A. , St. Louis University St. Louisi Missouri 1944-1947.....................................................St, Louis University High School, St. Louis, Missouri 1947-1948.....................................................Creighton Preparatory School Omaha, Nebraska 19.53 ..................................... ......................... S.T.L. St. Louis University St. Louis, Missouri 1953-1958 .....................................................Rockhurst College Kansas City, Missouri 1958-1988 .................................. St. Louis University St. Louis, Missouri 1988-1972.....................................................The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS McEniry, Robert. "Emotional Appeal in the First Catilinarian, " The Classical Bulletin, XXI (January, 1945), 25-26. _________. "Turning On, " Spirit, V (November, 1988), 16-18. "Thinking about Taking Part in an Encounter Group?" The Gate, III (July, 1970), 17-27. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Guidance Studies in Counseling Professors Anthony C. Riccio, and Guidance: Joseph J. Quaranta, Donald Tosi Studies in Psychology: Professors Harold B. Pepinsky, Lyle D. Schm idt, Thomas T. Weaver Studies in Psychiatry: Professors George J. Learmonth Malcolm L. Gardner, G. Richard van Sickle Studies in Instructional Professors Edgar Dale, Media: Sydney C. Eboch, Robert R. Monaghan TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......................................................................... iii VITA................................. v INTRODUCTION................. I C hapter I. AN OVERVIEW OF ENCOUNTER GROUP LITERATURE.................. 16 The Usage of Encounter in Encounter Group Literature The C e n tra l P ro b lem of This Study- Tentative Avenues of Solution Interface between the Existential Movement and Encounter A Study of the Existential Approach to Encounter in Rollo May II. CHARACTERISTICS AND ASSUMPTIONS OF ROLLO MAY'S EXISTENTIAL APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY. ....................... 45 May's Position among Existentialists Characteristics of May's Existential A pproach Assumptions Underlying This Approach III. THE LOCUS OF ENCOUNTER IN THE HUMAN DILEMMA..................................... 68 Schema: The Human Dilemma One Pole of the Human Dilemma: The Existential Situation The Other Pole of the Human Dilemma: Becoming an Integrated Person vii IV. ELEMENTS IN ENCOUNTER 100 Empathy, The First Element in Encounter Philia, The Second Element in Encounter Eros, The Third Element in Encounter Agape, The Fourth Element in Encounter V. SUMMATION, APPLICATION, IM PLICATION. 121 Sum m ation Application Implications for Counselor Education APPENDIX: SELECTED MEDIA MAYANA.................................. 134 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................ 1 . 150 i v iii INTRODUCTION The astonishing vitality, which has been a mark of the whole small group movement, has also rendered its study difficult. This is particularly true of encounter groups, one of the more recent developments of the group movement. The almost tropical exuber­ ance of encounter groups, manifest in their rapid rise, their many varieties, their wide-spread appearance and appeal, has been an obstacle to study. But when the five year development of encounter groups is looked at against the background of the twenty-five year development of T-groups from the vantage point of growth stages, some illumin­ ating contrasts emerge. In their turn, these contrasts can shed some light upon ways to study them. Growth Stages of T-Groups T-groups seem to have gone through four growth stages: 1) a cocoon stage, 2) a Mecca stage, 3) an experimental model stage, and 4) a geographical outreach stage. The cocoon stage occurred during the summer of 1946. At that time a workshop was held at the State Teachers College in New Britain, Connecticut. This workshop was jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Interracial Commission, the Connecticut Depart­ ment of Education, and the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Thirty participants attended. They were divided into three groups of ten members each. The groups were led by Kenneth D. Benne, LelandP. Bradford, and Ronald Lippitt. They were observed by researchers Kurt Lewin, Morton Deutsch, Murray Horwitz, and Melvin Seeman. * When the discovery was made that the participants were more interested in the nightly review of the daily interaction in the groups by leaders and researchers than in the interaction itself, the cocoon stage ended. The shape of what would eventually become the T-group was beginning to emerge. The Mecca stage began the following summer of 1947, when the New Britain workshop was expanded to a three week session and
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