Tavistock-inspired group relations conferences (GRCs) in Swedish academia: a retrospective interpretative phenomenological interview-study.
(2021) PSPR14 20202Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- Tavistock-inspired group relations conferences (GRCs) originated from overlapping yet distinct theories. These are psychoanalytic theories, theories of organizations as open systems, and theories of experiential learning in organizations. Tavistock-inspired GRCs are, first and foremost, a method of learning about organizations. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the experiences of former participants of a GRC. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was done on six former psychology students’ retrospective accounts of their conference experiences during their master studies. The research questions that guided the whole process were: 1) What were their experiences? 2) How did they experience the method? 3) What was their... (More)
- Tavistock-inspired group relations conferences (GRCs) originated from overlapping yet distinct theories. These are psychoanalytic theories, theories of organizations as open systems, and theories of experiential learning in organizations. Tavistock-inspired GRCs are, first and foremost, a method of learning about organizations. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the experiences of former participants of a GRC. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was done on six former psychology students’ retrospective accounts of their conference experiences during their master studies. The research questions that guided the whole process were: 1) What were their experiences? 2) How did they experience the method? 3) What was their experience concerning learning? The results showed that most participants were positive towards the method, although they questioned its scientific basis and criticized the staff. Their general experiences of the conference were emotion-laden both in relation to classmates and staff. They also reflected on social problems. Participants had learned about open communication. The results were discussed in relation to existing theories and functionalist organizational theories were critically examined. Moreover, GRCs were claimed to have the potential to help address social problems. Limitations were discussed. Future research may make use of group relations conferences to explore social problems and new forms of organization. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Tavistockinspirerade grupprelationskonferenser utvecklades ur överlappande men olika teorier. Dessa är psykoanalytiska teorier, teorier om organisationer som öppna system och teorier om upplevelsebaserat lärande i organisationer. Tavistockinspirerade grupprelationskonferenser är först och främst en metod för lärande om organisationer. Syftet med studien var att få insikt i före detta konferensdeltagares upplevelser. En tolkande fenomenologisk analys gjordes på sex före detta psykologstudenters retrospektiva berättelser om deras konferensupplevelser under sina masterstudier. Forskningsfrågorna som ledde hela forskningsprocessen var: 1) Vad är deras upplevelser? 2) Hur upplever de metoden? 3) Vad är deras upplevelse i relation till lärande?... (More)
- Tavistockinspirerade grupprelationskonferenser utvecklades ur överlappande men olika teorier. Dessa är psykoanalytiska teorier, teorier om organisationer som öppna system och teorier om upplevelsebaserat lärande i organisationer. Tavistockinspirerade grupprelationskonferenser är först och främst en metod för lärande om organisationer. Syftet med studien var att få insikt i före detta konferensdeltagares upplevelser. En tolkande fenomenologisk analys gjordes på sex före detta psykologstudenters retrospektiva berättelser om deras konferensupplevelser under sina masterstudier. Forskningsfrågorna som ledde hela forskningsprocessen var: 1) Vad är deras upplevelser? 2) Hur upplever de metoden? 3) Vad är deras upplevelse i relation till lärande? Resultaten visade att de flesta deltagarna var positiva gentemot metoden, även om de ifrågasatte evidensbasen och kritiserade staben. Deras generella upplevelse av konferensen var känsloladdad både i relation till klasskamrater och staben. De reflekterade även kring sociala problem. Deltagarna berättade att de lärde sig om öppen kommunikation. Resultaten diskuterades i relation till teorin och funktionalistiska organisationsteorier granskades kritiskt. Grupprelationskonferenser hävdades vidare ha potentialen att adressera samhällsproblem. Begränsningar och framtida forskning diskuterades. Framtida forskning kan använda sig av grupprelationskonferenser för att utforska sociala problem och nya organisationsformer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9040111
- author
- Momeni, Navid LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- PSPR14 20202
- year
- 2021
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- group relations conference (GRC), interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), democracy, experiential learning, systems psychodynamics
- language
- English
- id
- 9040111
- date added to LUP
- 2021-02-10 15:52:18
- date last changed
- 2021-02-10 15:52:18
@misc{9040111,
abstract = {{Tavistock-inspired group relations conferences (GRCs) originated from overlapping yet distinct theories. These are psychoanalytic theories, theories of organizations as open systems, and theories of experiential learning in organizations. Tavistock-inspired GRCs are, first and foremost, a method of learning about organizations. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the experiences of former participants of a GRC. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was done on six former psychology students’ retrospective accounts of their conference experiences during their master studies. The research questions that guided the whole process were: 1) What were their experiences? 2) How did they experience the method? 3) What was their experience concerning learning? The results showed that most participants were positive towards the method, although they questioned its scientific basis and criticized the staff. Their general experiences of the conference were emotion-laden both in relation to classmates and staff. They also reflected on social problems. Participants had learned about open communication. The results were discussed in relation to existing theories and functionalist organizational theories were critically examined. Moreover, GRCs were claimed to have the potential to help address social problems. Limitations were discussed. Future research may make use of group relations conferences to explore social problems and new forms of organization.}},
author = {{Momeni, Navid}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Tavistock-inspired group relations conferences (GRCs) in Swedish academia: a retrospective interpretative phenomenological interview-study.}},
year = {{2021}},
}