Sociometry

[REGINA SEWELL]

Adam,

I was at the workshop with Ali and Cynthia as well.  I found it to be mind-bogglingly amazing.  Ann and Donna did an amazing job of gently wrangling a rather large group in ways that gave group members a sense of ownership in the process - which required, I'm guessing, a good deal of spontaneity, on their part.  The metaphor I used for what I saw them doing.... I have gone to a number of NonViolent  Communication (also called compassionate communication)  trainings and was in an NVC practice group for awhile.  The Non-Violent Communication manual lays out a pretty formulaic way to communicate.  

Before starting...  come from a place of the heart... empathy is good here.....
Step one, When you ***bla bla bla (no judgments, evaluations, criticisms, fighting works, analysis, etc - just direct observation of event) 
Step two, I felt ***Bla bla bla
Step three and I would like you to *** bla bla bla  (make a request that you can be ok if the answer is "no."

It's all good and well, but if you use this with someone, so directly, you sound like an idiot and the recipient will probably respond with disdain, sarcasm, or some other less than desirable response.

But NonViolent communication works if you use it at a higher level....  if you "live it." as it were...  even if you don't use the words.  

What I saw Ann and Donna doing was at that higher level... so they weren't really doing "exercises" - they were really using the essence of sociometry.  Post doc work rather than k-12 teaching....

And it also seems to me, out of professional courtesy, that it would be good to get the information directly from them. 

Also, Ann and Donna do have a monograph out that I think you can order from either Ann or Donna - "Sociometric Processing of Action Events."  What I have read of it, I think it's brilliant.  

Peace,
regina sewell, ph.d.

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:03:15 -0500
From: "Adam Blatner" <ablatner at verizon.net>
Subject: sociometry
To: "CGayle" <cgayle at zipcon.com>
Cc: list at grouptalkweb.org
Message-ID: <004601c8f30d$cc5499c0$2e01a8c0 at desktop>
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Hi Cynthia, 
      I hear about those sociometry workshops, and so you attended one in the Hudson Valley area?  Are there any new written materials? (All I have is Ann Hale's old but good 3-hole-binder book.)  (and another one or two of her monographs). I wish we could get some written notes of the kinds of exercises done, the instructions, what worked, what was most and least helpful for different kinds of personalities, etc.

     The article from Ali only hints at the substance of the workshop. She partakes of the ANZPA double-word naming of roles, and I wonder how much others at the workshop picked up on or used that technique. 

     Did it seem as if anyone else at that workshop would be interested in gathering together the notes or readings in the field and beginning to prepare a book on contemporary techniques, developments, refinements, or applications of sociometry? Perhaps an anthology?   Our field needs something like this.

      Warmly, Adam    

regina sewell, Ph.D.


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