Big Groups and Methods for Creating Change

Reviews the book, The Handbook of Large Group Methods: Creating Systemic Change in Organizations and Communities edited by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban (see record 2006-10328-000). This is the second book on this topic by Bunker and Alban (see Bunker & Alban, 1997). They have taken advantage of the intervening years to review what has happened in this field since they first developed their framework. The emphasis in this volume is on how the methods have evolved, what new methods have emerged out of the basic framework, and the purposes to which the methods are being put. The chapters by selected authors are written in an informal, narrative form, and, indeed, the editors explain in their preface that they frequently use stories to flesh out the 12 methods that they present. The 25 chapters of this book are organized into three major divisions. The first introduces the reader to the chapters that follow and briefly describes the range of businesses and other organizations in which the methods have been used. Part 2 focuses on specific challenges and then provides case examples. Part 3 focuses on resources that can be used by others. Overall, the book is well planned and presented. True to the editors' preference, each chapter is essentially a story about an approach to a particular problem. Some chapters are more detailed than are others. Perhaps the greatest disappointment is that there is no formal analysis of the effects that the methods have toward the goal of creating systemic change in large organizations. The outcomes are presented anecdotally, and one is left with the impressions of those who worked with the groups, who typically were brought to the groups as consultants who were contracted for purposes identified by the business or organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)