A Review of Research On Leaderless Groups

Challenging the Assumptions Underlying the Use of Participatory Decision-Making Strategies

“…The presence of a therapist has been found to suppress trust, independence, interaction, and leadership development in group members; the absence of a facilitator tends to produce less anxiety and more spontaneity but also less task orientation and less confrontive behavior (Coyne & Rapin, 1977;Seligman & Sterne, 1969). In their review of 28 studies of leaderless groups, Desmond and Seligman (1977) found that those groups that obtained positive results were structured rather than unstructured. Thus, it can be concluded that some formal structures in the shape of task-holding mechanisms are necessary for productivity.…”

The educative model.

“…In the first type, they are built into the group program, occur with some regularity, and alternate with leader-led sessions. These leaderless sessions have traditionally been referred to as alternate meetings, and there is some literature to support their efficacy at least in an outpatient setting (Desmond & Seligman, 1977). The second type of leaderless meetings are of an impromptu nature and arise when unresolved issues cannot be addressed or accommodated in a leader-led session (e.g., when the group is out of time or an event or issue on the unit arises prior to the next leader-led session).…”

“…Leaderless groups have been observed to be beneficial in some instances and detrimental in others (Astrachan et al, 1967;Truax & Wargo, 1969;. Whether leaderless group are a positive addition to the group treatment depends on the patients' levels of intelligence, the severity and chronicity of the psychopathology, the degree of structure provided in the session, and the patients' environment outside the unled sessions including the type of leader-led session (Desmond & Seligman, 1977). These variables are discussed below.…”

“…In general, the utility of leaderless groups has been demonstrated with young educated patients who have acute psychiatric problems (Desmond & Seligman, 1977). One study with representative findings took place on an intermediate-term care inpatient unit using 3 groups of 8 patients, each which met in a leader-led group, a leaderless group, and a large group that included staff, patients, and relatives (Astrachan et al, 1967).…”

“…The lack of structure may also affect the efficacy of the leaderless session. Desmond and Seligman (1977) reported that of all the studies reporting positive results, 84% of the leaderless groups were structured by a particular set of procedures (e.g., Encountertapes, PEER program). In the few studies that reported positive results in groups that were not highly structured, the patients were all college educated.…”