Page 205 - Essentials of Human Communication

184 Chapter 9 Small Group Communication

CommuniCatinG ethiCallY

the ethics of Gossip

Gossip is social talk that involves making evaluations about persons who are not present during the conversa-
tion; and it can occur between only two people or in a small group, as in office gossip at the cafeteria, for exam-
ple (Eder & Enke, 1991; Wert & Salovey, 2004). One study estimates that approximately two-thirds of people’s
conversation time is devoted to social topics, and that most of these topics can be considered gossip (Dunbar,
2004). Gossip bonds people together and solidifies their relationship; it creates a sense of camaraderie (Green-
gard, 2001; Hafen, 2004). At the same time, of course, it helps to create an in-group (i.e., those doing the gossip-
ing) and an out-group (i.e., those being gossiped about).
As you might expect, in many instances gossip would be considered unethical. Some instances generally
identified as unethical include the following (Bok, 1983):
ethical Choice point ● When gossip is used to unfairly hurt another person—for example, spreading gossip about an office
You’re supervising a new group of romance or an instructor’s past indiscretions
interns and you’re wondering if you ● When you know that what you’re saying is not true—for example, lying to make another person look bad
should tell them about the supervi- or spreading false rumors
sor who has made romantic over- ● When no one has the right to such personal information—for example, revealing the income of neigh-
tures to several former interns?
Would this just be unethical gossip bors to others or revealing another student’s poor grades to your friends
or would it be ethical and well ● When you’ve promised secrecy—for example, revealing something that you promised not to repeat to
within your mission to warn them? others

The InTerVenTIOn GrOup

In the intervention group participants gather to help one of their members overcome some
problem. For example, family members may join together to confront an alcoholic parent or
sibling. Other commonly confronted issues are drug, gambling, and sex addiction and eating
disorders. Usually a leader is designated (sometimes a professional intervention leader and
sometimes a group member). Under the leader’s guidance the group members express their
support and love for the person with the problem behavior, explain the impact of this mem-
ber’s behavior on all connected others, and offer to help the person. As you can imagine, the
skills of empathy, supportiveness, and immediacy are especially important in the intervention.

Objectives Self-Check
● Can you define and distinguish among the encounter group, the assertiveness training group, the
consciousness-raising group, and the intervention?

Watch the Video
“Helping Annie” at
MyCommunicationLab problem-Solving Groups

A problem-solving group meets to solve a particular problem or to reach a decision on some
issue. In a sense, this is the most demanding kind of group. It requires not only a knowledge
of small group communication techniques but also a thorough knowledge of the particular
problem on the part of all group members. Also, for the most successful outcome, it usually
demands faithful adherence to a set of procedural rules.

For a brief discussion of the skills of The prObleM-SOlVInG SequenCe
small group, see “Small Group
Advice” at http://tcbdevito The problem-solving sequence identifies six steps and owes its formulation to philosopher
.blogspot.com. What other John Dewey’s insights into how people think (see Figure 9.3). These steps are designed to
advice would you give? make problem solving more efficient and effective.