Peer Groups: Expanding Our Study of Small Group Communication

Peer Groups: Expanding Our Study of Small Group Communication is the first textbook to explore and discuss group communication dynamics with the group that most students are already familiar with-peer groups. This book brings alive for students many existing group theories, while showcasing under-utilized theories that usefully explain the processes of the groups in which people (and students in particular) spend most of their time. Peer Groups uses a variety of traditional and nontraditional theories and concepts to examine the dynamics of four real world peer groups: children's play, adolescence cliques, gangs, and juries. It moves from the earliest childhood experiences in groups, through adolescence and young adulthood, to peer groups as conscripted service (juries). Further, the book pays important attention to the common painful and dysfunctional aspects of being a member of peer groups: group exclusion, moral and legal misbehaviors, and the rule-breaking behaviors and regrets of members of peer groups.