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Oddipus replies to Dr Bob part one ;-)

Posted by OddipusRex on July 26, 2002, at 8:35:57

In reply to Re: resorting to blocking again :-(, posted by Dr. Bob on July 26, 2002, at 4:41:14

>
A couple more quotes from the Group dynamics article


Scapegoating

Scapegoating occurs when certain issues are around in a team that members find difficult to acknowledge and somehow the 'problem' gets located in one person. Other members of the team do not notice any aspect of the problem in themselves, see it in the elected scapegoat and then attempt to solve it by getting the scapegoat to change. If the scapegoat leaves then usually someone else is quickly found to carry these unwanted parts.

Scapegoating usually centers on an issue that is both important and worrying to team members. For instance, the question of competency often lends itself to scapegoating. We all care that we are and are seen to be competent. What can happen is that all the concerns about competency get located in one member, often the newest, least experienced person.....
Scapegoating

The word 'scapegoat' should be avoided. It seems to imply guilt to people and immediately throws them on the defensive. The manager will need to ask herself what function the scapegoat is fulfilling for the team. What is the scapegoat doing that other members are avoiding experiencing in themselves? The first benefit of looking at the problem in this way is that the manager distances herself from the process and immediately gains more empathy with the scapegoat. The second is that the manager may discover what issue is troubling the team so that it can then be addressed in its own right. Thus if the manager identifies that fears about competency may be the issue, then she will want to bring it up and talk about it in a way that people can explore it. To avoid further splitting, she will need to include herself in this issue too, for she will have concerns about competency as much as anyone else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you think the underlying issue is here that people have been avoiding? If it isn't addressed won't this just happen again in some form? Do you think there might have been a little counter-scapegoating going on? That perhaps your lack of intervention on behalf of the majority for so long was actually a little agressive?

> > > Members of the group project their demands on the leader, who is expected to react with demands of fight or flight, and if he does not, he is ignored. His suggestions about finding out what is going on in the group, is easily hindered by counter-suggestions, which are expressions of hate or aggression. In other words the leader will be ignored unless he opens up the fight-flight theme, so he is ignored when he tries to work on the real task.
>
> Am I succumbing by doing all this blocking now? I see it as setting limits, but...



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poster:OddipusRex thread:6603
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020725/msgs/6778.html