What are the three main diversity themes that occur in the dynamics of groups according to Helms and Cook (Helms & Cook, 1999)? Provide one example of what this might look like in practice

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

According to Helms and Cook (1999) three main diversity themes occur in the dynamics of groups:

(1) Power is distributed within the group according to each person’s social role in the group. This means that group leaders and group members of privileged status will tend to have more influence in the group.
(2) Power may be distributed according to the numerical representation of social identity groups within the group.
(3) Members of agent social identity groups generally have more power than target or marginalized members. These themes present themselves in different ways depending on the leader’s social identity, diversity in co-leadership relationships, and the social identity composition of the group. Recognizing these dynamics is essential in preparing for multicultural group counseling and for preventing harm from occurring to members.

Examples:

a) Without specific intent otherwise, privileged or marginalized group leaders who have cultural biases, prejudices, or blind spots will tend to perpetuate these attitudes in the group because the leader generally is the most powerful person in the process (Kline, 2003).
b) Agent/privileged group members may dominate group interaction. Group norms and process will conform to agent standards, and topics will be those of relevance to agent group members (Han & Vasquez, 2000).
c) Members with nonvisible target identities, who hide their identity in many social settings, may hide this identity as well in groups. Although they may do this for safety reasons, the experience parallels the sense of invisibility and powerlessness that the member may have in society at large.
d) Members with target identities/marginalized status may be unwilling to discuss their feelings or experiences associated with their status. This dynamic may be related to feeling unsafe or ashamed (Helms & Cook, 1999).
e) When target/marginalized members share their feelings and experiences honestly, agent group members who are uncomfortable with their status may deny, minimize, or openly challenge the reality of such feelings and experiences (Griffin & Ouellet, 2007).
f) Agent/privileged members may scapegoat target members for resisting dominant group norms or for expressing oppression-related anger, mistrust, or pain. Group leaders may compound this damaging dynamic by labeling a target member too quickly as resistant or problematic (Sue & Sue, 2003).
g) Members with target/marginalized identities may be pressured into roles representative of their identity group or educator of agent group leaders or members. These roles absolve agent group members and leaders of responsibility for oppressive dynamics in the group and depersonalize target members. Each of these dynamics results in diminishing the target group member’s experience and this may affect the entire group process. These dynamics are more likely to occur if the group leader is unable to recognize when they are occurring or if the leader is unable to steer the group toward more effective ways of interacting.