Guided Group Interaction in Correctional Work

STARTING with the work of Dr. Joseph H. Pratt at the turn of the century, group therapy developed slowly until the demand for psychotherapy by the armed forces during World War II exceeded the supply of trained personnel. The use of group methods to meet this demand for psychotherapy served as a stimulus to the group therapy movement and resulted in a large number of individuals developing programs in this area. Many of these persons had little or no previous experience with group therapy, and the activities that went on under its banner ranged all the way from meetings which combined inspirational exhortations with the techniques of commercial salesmanship to completely analytical sessions where group actvity was directed toward the psychoanalysis of individual participants.' The interest developed in the application of these specialized group techniques persisted after the war, and descriptions of group-therapy programs are now commonplace.2 While a body of descriptive material has been developed in this general area and some progress has been made in the direction of scientific research, much remains to be accomplished. The literature frequently reveals vague definitions of central concepts, and as one reviewer observes, ". . . has been so confusing that one thinks there are as many forms of group therapy as there are practitioners." Most group-therapy pro-