Group Dynamics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Group Dynamics - Term Paper Example But there some who are more hostile and are aggressive about their defense. The best example for this is when Gerry acted superior to coach Boone before he got on the bus for football camp. It is well established that the team member is a subordinate to the coach but Gerry felt the need to protect his comfort zone as the team's star player. Coach Boone, as a reaction to the insult, embarrassed Gerry and reminded him of his place. He could have just given him a simple reminder but instead he asked him "who's your daddy" Of course this was effective, but the main point is that that particular phrase slang among blacks. This was also a reminder for Gerry that he is a subordinate of a black coach. There are multiple reasons for the prejudice against the African American coach and players. One of which would be the norm. This is what the whites were use to. For years, blacks are considered as second class individuals and this cannot be changed overnight. The whites have experienced the life where the blacks would bow down to them and would follow whatever they wanted them to do. To some degree they still think this way and it is irritating them that the black would no longer do as they are told. The next theory is that the blacks have a history of rebellion and violence. They have fought for freedom and by doing so have ignited the assumption of being brute. This too is recent history and is still fresh to the memories of whites. Both the theories for the cause of prejudice stated above have something in common; the memories and experiences of the people. It all hinges in the fact that recent history is very difficult to erase. c. How did the new head coach increase group cohesiveness on the team and reduce the level of conflict between the groups To increase group cohesiveness, the separation should first be dissolved. The new head coach did this by pairing up one black player with one white. They were forced to sit together in the bus and later became room mates in the camp. This was a success in terms of them having to do things together and somehow broke the tension between the racial groups. For some time this was a conducive situation for social interactions; they may be of different races but now they were talking. This was until they found out that they had conflicting interests. The coach found this absurd because they had very similar cultural backgrounds, different but similar. The next step that he did was to force them to make deeper social interactions. Having them talk to each other and discover the similarities that they have. This may seem an effective approach but they just found out that they had less and less commonalities. Finally, one morning to took them out for a run in the woods and showed them the place when the battle of Gettysburg. He told them the story of how many have died for the same battle that they are fighting that time. This was an eye opener for all of them. From then on the team members are more active about establishing good rapport between races. This change is clearly shown in the scene where Gerry and Julius had an argument about their team's tactics. This argument