The Breakfast Club Group Dynamics

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Mike Sciarappa Mid Term: 10/28/04 Seminar in Group Counseling The Stages of the Breakfast Club In the movie, The Breakfast Club, the group passes through five stages. According to the Boston Model these stages include: Preaffiliation or “Honeymoon”, Power and Control, Intimacy, Differentiation, and Termination. These stages seem clear, but often times they overlap each other. For example, power and control is seen in almost every stage throughout the Breakfast Club group. These stages are a natural process of a group and are necessary for a successful group to mature. In the “honeymoon” stage, group members tend to be on their best behavior. When entering the new situation, members keep a safe distance from one another and asses the situation. When the group members feel ready, they will begin to test the boundaries of the environment. Usually this is done by members trying out what behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate. During this process, an increase in volume is noticed. For Breakfast Club, the “honeymoon” stage takes on similar characteristics. In the beginning of detention, the members are on their best behavior; they come in quiet, and sit down. Each individual keeps his/her personal space by sitting at a safe distance from one another. Then the principal comes in and sets a militaristic tone. He explains the rules of the group which include: no talking, no moving, no sleeping and to write an essay explaining who they think they are. He also reinforces that if anyone messes around or mouths off, they will be punished with more Saturday detentions. After he leaves, the group members push boundaries. Allison begins to loudly bite her finger nails; Brain, wiggles a pen on his lip; Bender, begins to obnoxiously hum. The group responds to each others behavior with disapproving and disgusted looks. The boundaries of the group are pushed even
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