TUGAS MATA KULIAH EXTENSIVE READING

SUMMARY OF NOVELS AND BOOK

Submitted to Fulfil One of Extensive Reading Subject’s Task













Resti Tantiawanti
082122063
6B




ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
SILIWANGI UNIVERSITY
2011
EMMA
By Jane Austen

Emma Woodhouse is a beautiful, high-spirited, intelligent, and slightly spoiled young woman of the age of twenty. Her mother died when she was very young, and she has been mistress of the house ever since, certainly since her older sister got married. While she is in many ways mature for her age, Emma makes some serious mistakes, mainly due to her conviction that she is always right and her lack of real world experience. Although she has vowed she will never ever marry, she delights in making matches for others. She seems unable to fall in love, until jealousy makes her realize that she has loved Mr Knightley all along.Emma Woodhouse is the beautiful and wealthy mistress of Hartfield, the most notable house in Highbury. She lives a lonely life with her father. Miss Taylor, her governess, has recently married Mr Weston, isolating Emma further. Mr Knightley is a close friend of Emma.He has known her all her life and is the older brother of her brother-in-law.

Emma makes friends with Harriet Smith, a young beautiful girl, but from a lower society than Emma. Harriet is attracted to Mr Martin, a local farmer and friend of Mr Knightley, but Emma feels this match is unworthy. So she pairs her friend with Mr Elton. However, her strategies backfire when Mr Elton proposes to her, and not Harriet. She says she will give up matchmaking, but soon.
George Knightley,about thirty-six years old. He is a close friend of Emma, and her only critic, though he cares deeply for her. Mr Knightley is the owner of the neighbouring estate of Donwell Abbey, which includes extensive grounds and a farm. He is the elder brother of Mr John Knightley—the husband of Emma's elder sister Isabella. Mr Knightley is very annoyed with Emma for persuading Harriet to turn down Mr Martin, thinking that the advantage is all on Harriet's side; he also warns Emma against matchmaking Harriet with Mr Elton, correctly guessing that Mr Elton has a much higher opinion of himself. He is suspicious of Frank Churchill and his motives; although his suspicion turns out to be based mainly on jealousy of the younger man, his instincts are proven correct by the revelation that Frank Churchill is not all that he seems.
Mr Frank Churchill, Mr Weston's son by his previous marriage, an amiable young man who manages to be liked by everyone except Mr Knightley, who considers him quite immature, although this partially results from his jealously of Frank's supposed 'pursuit' of Emma. After his mother's death he was raised by his wealthy aunt and uncle, whose last name he took. Frank enjoys dancing and music and living life to the fullest. Frank may be viewed as a careless but less villainous version of characters from other Austen novels, such as Mr Wickham from Pride and Prejudice or Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility.
Jane Fairfax, an orphan whose only family consists of an aunt, Miss Bates, and a grandmother, Mrs Bates. She is regarded as a very beautiful, clever, and elegant woman, with the best of manners, and is also very well-educated and exceptionally talented at singing and playing the piano; in fact, she is the sole person that Emma envies. She has little fortune, however, and seems destined to become a governess – a prospect she dislikes.
Harriet Smith, a young friend of Emma's, is a very pretty but unsophisticated girl who is too easily led by others, especially Emma; she has been educated at a nearby school. The illegitimate daughter of initially unknown parents, she is revealed in the last chapter to be the daughter of a fairly rich and decent tradesman, although not a "gentleman". Emma takes Harriet under her wing early in the novel, and she becomes the subject of some of Emma's misguided matchmaking attempts. Harriet initially rebuffs a marriage proposal from farmer Robert Martin because of Emma's belief that he is beneath her, despite Harriet's own doubtful origins. She then develops a passion for Mr Knightley, which is the catalyst for Emma realising her own feelings. Ultimately, Harriet and Mr Martin are wed, despite Emma's meddling.Philip Elton is a good-looking, well mannered and ambitious young vicar. Emma wants him to marry Harriet; he wants to marry Emma. Mr Elton displays his mercenary nature by quickly marrying another woman of means after Emma's rejection.Augusta Elton, formerly Miss Hawkins, is Mr Elton's moneyed but obnoxious wife. She is a boasting, domineering, pretentious woman who likes to be the centre of attention and is generally disliked by Emma and her circle. She patronizes Jane, which earns Jane the sympathy of others.
Mrs Anne Weston, formerly Miss Taylor, was Emma's governess for sixteen years and remains her closest friend and confidante after she marries Mr Weston in the opening chapter. She is a sensible woman who adores Emma. Mrs Weston acts as a surrogate mother to her former charge and, occasionally, as a voice of moderation and reason.Mr Weston, a recently wealthy man living in the vicinity of Hartfield. He marries Emma's former governess, Miss Taylor, and by his first marriage is father to Frank Churchill, who was adopted and raised by his late wife's brother and sister-in-law. Mr Weston is a sanguine, optimistic man, who enjoys socializing.Miss Bates, a friendly, garrulous spinster whose mother, Mrs Bates, is a friend of Mr Woodhouse. Her accomplished niece, Jane Fairfax, is the light of her life. One day, Emma humiliates her on a day out in the country, when she pointedly alludes to her tiresome prolixity. Afterward, Mr Knightley sternly rebukes Emma. Shamed, she tries to make amends.
Henry Woodhouse, Emma's father, is always concerned for his own health and comfort, and to the extent that it does not interfere with his own, the health and comfort of his friends. He assumes a great many things are hazardous to one's health, and is generally a difficult person to handle because he is always fussing about the trifling things which bother him and which he assumes must bother everyone else just the same, to the point of trying to convince his visitors to deny foods he thinks too rich. He laments that "poor Isabella" and especially "poor Miss Taylor" have married and been taken away from him, because since he is unhappy about their being gone, he assumes they must be miserable as well.Isabella Knightley is the elder sister of Emma and daughter of Henry. She is married to John Knightley, and spends much of her time at home caring for her five children (Henry, 'little' John, Bella, 'little' Emma, and George).John Knightley is Isabella's husband and George's younger brother. He is an old acquaintance of Jane Fairfax. He indulges his family's desires for visits and vacations, though he would prefer to stay at home, especially if the weather is less than perfect.
Although convinced that Ema will never marry anyone, Emma Woodhouse, a precocious twenty-year-old resident of the village of Highbury, imagines herself to be naturally gifted in conjuring love matches. After self-declared success at matchmaking between her governess and Mr. Weston, a village widower, Emma takes it upon herself to find an eligible match for her new friend, Harriet Smith. Though Harriet’s parentage is unknown, Emma is convinced that Harriet deserves to be a gentleman’s wife and sets her friend’s sights on Mr. Elton, the village vicar. Meanwhile, Emma persuades Harriet to reject the proposal of Robert Martin, a well-to-do farmer for whom Harriet clearly has feelings.
Harriet becomes infatuated with Mr. Elton under Emma’s encouragement, but Emma’s plans go awry when Elton makes it clear that his affection is for Emma, not Harriet. Emma realizes that her obsession with making a match for Harriet has blinded her to the true nature of the situation. Mr. Knightley, the brother of Emma’s brother-in-law and her treasured friend, watches Emma’s matchmaking efforts with a critical eye. He believes that Mr. Martin is a worthy young man whom Harriet would be lucky to marry. He and Emma quarrel over Emma’s meddling, and, as usual, Mr. Knightley proves to be the wiser of the pair. Elton, spurned by Emma and offended by her insinuation that Harriet is his equal, leaves for the town of Bath and marries a young woman there almost immediately.
Emma is left to comfort Harriet and to wonder about the character of a new visitor expected in Highbury,Mr. Weston’s son, Frank Churchill. Frank is set to visit his father in Highbury after having been raised by his aunt and uncle in London, who have also adopted him as their heir. Emma knows nothing about Frank, who has long been deterred from visiting his father by his aunt’s illnesses and complaints. Mr. Knightley is immediately suspicious of the young man, especially after Frank rushes back to London merely to have his hair cut. Emma, however, finds Frank delightful and notices that his charms are directed mainly toward her. Though she plans to discourage these charms, she finds herself flattered and engages in a flirtation with the young man. Emma greets Jane Fairfax, another addition to the Highbury set, with less enthusiasm. Jane is beautiful and accomplished, but Emma dislikes her because of her reserve and, the narrator insinuates, because she is jealous of Jane.
Suspicion, intrigue, and misunderstandings ensue. Mr. Knightley defends Jane, saying that she deserves compassion because, unlike Emma, she has no independent fortune and must soon leave home to work as a governess. Mrs. Weston suspects that the warmth of Mr. Knightley’s defense comes from romantic feelings, an implication Emma resists. Everyone assumes that Frank and Emma are forming an attachment, though Emma soon dismisses Frank as a potential suitor and imagines him as a match for Harriet. At a village ball, Knightley earns Emma’s approval by offering to dance with Harriet, who has just been humiliated by Mr. Elton and his new wife. The next day, Frank saves Harriet from Gypsy beggars. When Harriet tells Emma that she has fallen in love with a man above her social station, Emma believes that she means Frank. Knightley begins to suspect that Frank and Jane have a secret understanding, and he attempts to warn Emma. Emma laughs at Knightley’s suggestion and loses Knightley’s approval when she flirts with Frank and insults Miss Bates, a kindhearted spinster and Jane’s aunt, at a picnic. When Knightley reprimands Emma, she weeps.
News comes that Frank’s aunt has died, and this event paves the way for an unexpected revelation that slowly solves the mysteries. Frank and Jane have been secretly engaged; his attentions to Emma have been a screen to hide his true preference. With his aunt’s death and his uncle’s approval, Frank can now marry Jane, the woman he loves. Emma worries that Harriet will be crushed, but she soon discovers that it is Knightley, not Frank, who is the object of Harriet’s affection. Harriet believes that Knightley shares her feelings. Emma finds herself upset by Harriet’s revelation, and her distress forces her to realize that she is in love with Knightley. Emma expects Knightley to tell her he loves Harriet, but, to her delight, Knightley declares his love for Emma. Harriet is soon comforted by a second proposal from Robert Martin, which she accepts. The novel ends with the marriage of Harriet and Mr. Martin and that of Emma and Mr. Knightley, resolving the question of who loves whom after all.































TWO - GUN DEVIL
By Jackson Cole

From Alto on the west the marton,the railroad town north of Escondida Valley,rans a trail that winds and slithers around the mountainside like a tortured snake.To the north are overhanging cliffs.To the south is a sheer drop of hundreds of feet to where a rock-studded stream fams in the dwpths of the gorge below.The trail is narrow,with barely room for two vehicle to pass,and the turns are sharp,the lip of the canyon wall broken and crumbling.About two miles east of Alto,where the hills begin,another trail joins the Marton Trail,a trail that runs from El Paso on the Mexican Border.
Riding east by north on the El Paso Trail,Jim Hatfield pulled his great golden horse to a halt at the forks,hooked one leg over the saddle horn and rolled a cigarette with the slim fingers of his left hand.For some minutes he smoked thoughtfully and surveyed the forbidding terrain ahead.He pushed back his wide “J.B.” and rumpled his thick black hair.His rather wide mouth quirked at the corners as he spoke to his horse.
“A rather fitting gateway to the section we’re heading for,Goldy”,he remarked. ”One little slip on that snake track aheadand you’d starve to death before you hit bottom.Well,guess we’ll have to chance it.About twenty miles to go yet before we can put on the nosebag.Not even a scarp of chunck herebouts for an old grass burner like you.Nothing but rock,and that’s sort of hard to chew.So,let’s get going.”
He settled himself in the saddle once more and hooked his double cartridge belts a little higher around his lean waist.Broad shoulders swaying,he rode easily along the Marton Trail.
Soon the long slope to the south gave way to a perpendicular rock wall againts which the stream,far below,foamed and thundered.Hatfield,riding the out sideof the trail,glanced into the awful depths beneath his elbow and moved Goldy a little father in.The broken lip of the cliff was not good riding surface.Hatfield rode slowly.It had been a hard pull fromthe desert to the southwest and Goldy was entitled to take it easy for a spell.For a couple of miles the trail was almost of level.then it develoved a downward trend that increased in steepness as they bore farther and farther into the hills.They topped a rise and a long,fairly straight stretch came into view.About a mail distant,where the crowding north cliff bulged outward sharply,the trail seemed to leaf off into space.Hatfield knew the bulge must mark the site of a hairpin turn.A few minutes later,Hatfield lifted his head and turned in the saddle.From behind sounded a rumble of wheels.Another instant and the long lean heads of two big and powerful mules balged into view over the rise.Behind the ules rose a buckboard,careening and rocking.The team and the vehicle came charging down the slope at a dead run.
On came the buckboard,reeling and bouncing,sparks streaming from its grinding tires.On the seat a single occupant.The racing vehicle roared past and Hatfield exclaimed again.The occupant of the seat was a slender,white –faced girl.Hatfield saw that the end of a broken rein,whipping wildly about,was lashing the frenzied of-mule at every leap.Instanly the great golden horse shot forward,irons druming the ground,his gloriusblack mane tossing in the wind.He slugged his head above the bit and literally flashed down the long slant of the trail.As he estimated the distance toward the turn,Htfield’s mind worked at lighting speed.He had to either halt the runaway before it reached the turn or somehow get it around the sharp curve.
The mules,thought mad with fright,would continue to hug the cliff,and they would possibly make it around the bend.Horses would very likely to fall,but not the sure-footed mules.But when they went around,the buckboard would swerve outward,and as the mules took the turn,it would be shot from the trail like a stone from a catapult.The mules must be forced to the outer lip,but how could it be done.There was no room for Goldy to pass the buckboard on the inside,and where he on the outside of the team,it would be impossible to drug the mules close enough to the outer edge to save the vehicle ad its occupant.There was only one thing to do,and Hatfield knew he would be taking a frightful gamble with death.But there was no time to lose,the bulge was racing toward them like a living thing.
Behind the panic-striken mules,the buckboard was fairly flying,but steadly the great sorrel closed the distance.His straining nose came level with the rear wheels then drew up to the seat.For the instant Hatfield contemplated snatching the girl from the vehicle,but the risk was too great.Should the sudden shifting of his weight throw the sorrel of balance,they would be almost sure to go over the lip.He shot a glance at the bend,it was flowing toward them at a frightening rate.
Under the impact of his weight,the animal al but lost its footing.By a miracle of agility it recovered and with a maddened squeal dashed on,Hatfield swaying and slipping,his fingers groping for the bit ring and the cheek-piece.He got a finger into the ring,with his other hand he gripped the sout leather strap that was the cheek-piece.Now everything depended on the strap being able to withstand the strain.Agan the animal early fell,but again it recovered.Hatfield,dangling,his feet striking the surface of the trail one instant,flinging upward the next,kept swaying his body outward.And as he did so, the mule was forced to veer away from the cliff,dragging its teammate with it.
Nearer and nearer the ragged lip swerved the flying hoos.Hatfield felt himself swing dizzily in empty space.Beneath him, a housand feet and more,was the white water thundering over black rocks,a vision of terror.Then he was over the surface of the trail again,and directly ahead was the hairpin turn.He heared the clang and scrape of the mule’s slipping irons,the clashing and grinding of the buckboard againts the cliff as ir swung inward.Then as the mules ook the bend,it careened outward.Out and out,nearer and nearer the broken,crumbling lip.The mules floundered,recovered,floundered again,and recovered yet again.Their lean heads craned inward away from the horrible depths,their scrambling hoofs sent fragments of rock hurtling down ward.The inner side of the buckboard rose high in the air,until Hatfield was sure it would capsize.Then with a straight trail beyond the bend,crowding againts the haunches of the sobbing mules,whose gait quickly slacked to a shamble.Hatfield,his feet now on solid ground ran lightly beside them till he forced them to a halt.He was bruished and battered,his hands were bleeding and his breath came in great gasps.Still gripping the cheek-piece,he stepped back and stared at the girl on the buckboard seat.
At the good face they proceeded down the trail,the girl handling the now throughly subdued team with a deftness that won Hatfield’s approval.She wasa real little lady and pretty as a spotted pony,he decided.And John Hardin’s daughter ! Hatfield had a feeling that he might well have done himself a big favor by the afternoon’s work.The sunset was flaring scarlet and gold behind the western crags and the ominous gorge to the south was brimful of purple shadows when they sighted the town of Marton on the plain below.Another en minutes and they were clattering along the crooked main street.
The girl pulled the buckboard to a halt in front of the railroad station.Hatfield dismounted lithely and lifted her from the high seat.As he dropped her to the ground and straightened up,a hand seized him by the shoulder and flung him violently aside.Hatfield very nearly went off his feet,but not quite.He spun around to face his attacker,a man nearly as tall and broad as himself,but much older.He had fiery black eyes,a square,beefy face and a shock of bristling gray hair.
Before it had travelled six inches it was blocked.Fingers like rods of nickel steel coiled around his big wrist.He was whirled around,his arm was jammed up between his shoulder blades and he was held helpless,rising on his tiptoes to realive the agonizing strain on his muscles.Over Hardin’s shoulder,Hatfield saw three lean dark faced men leap forward,steel flickering in their hands.But before they could take a second step then halted,in strained,grotesque positions,they were starting into the unwavering black muzzle of a long gun that somehow,they never could agree just how,had happened in Hatfield’s left hand.And back of that yawning muzzle were the terrible eyes,now smoky-gray,of the man a stern old Lieutenant of the Rangers had named the Lone Wolf.
The fire in John Hardin’s black eyes died down and he looked decidely sheepish.Then a grin strecthed his wide mouth and changed the expression of his stubborn,badtempered old face.He stepped forward,ignoring Hatfield’s gun muzzle,and stretched out a big paw.Quivering with silent laughter,Hatfield gravely holstered his gun and shook hands.Hardin’s Mexican vaqueros,also looking sheepish,lowered their arms,surreptitously picked up their fallen knives and sheated them.Verna,her blue eyes still blazing glared in their direction.Trying to look unconcerned,and failing,they shuffled off.
He beckoned the three young Mexicans,who had paused a little ways off.They drew near,looking somewhat askance at Hatfield.But the Lone Wolf smiled at them,and they smiled back,a triffle shyly.Hatfield liked their looks and gravely introduced them to Goldy.Whereupon the big sorrel accompained them to the stable without objection.
After a throughly dazed Verna had departed,and an equally dazed Dudley had sunk into a chair,Hatfield briefly outlined what he had discovered on the cliff top,with a brief summary of what he had already told Hardin,to prepare Dudley for what was coming.Hardin and Dudley moved with speed to put Hatfield’s plan in operation.Dudley rode down the valley and talked convincingly to the various spread owners.As a result,the south end of the valley swarmed with punchers patrolling the wide mouth with ready rifle and sixgun.Meanwhile the Lazy D and Lucky Seven,working together,were rounding up a shipping herdworking slowly and selecting only the very best stock.The collected cows were enclosedin a temporary corral on an outlying pasture and were not guarded at night,every available man being openly assigned to petrol duty.
Jim Hatfield scouted the section about the cliff where the hoisting apparatus was hidden.A few hundred yards to the north,where the trail curved sharply around a bulge and was hidden from view by a belt of thicket on the east,he located a point where the cliff was comparatively low,not more than twenty feet.Strong wooden laffers wee constructed,slipped down from Hardin’s place under cover of darkness and concealed in the thicket.Four of Hardin’s vaqueros,men of proven courage and excellent shots,with Hardin’s himself,Hatfield,Dudley,Sam Lawson and four Lazy D cowboys,including Walt Vibart,made up the posse.After the herd in corral had gained sizeable proportions,the posse,well after dark ,rode to the cliffs,concealed their horses in the thicket and swarmed up the ladders.All night they lay hidden in the growth,to descend and return to the ranchhouse the following morning before it was light.Day after day the shipping herd in corral grew,and night after night nothing happened.
Jim Hatfield was in a very contented frame of mind as he rode north,two days laters.In beautiful Escondida Valley he was leaving sunshine and peace.He paused at the big white farmhouse,where Verna and Tom Dudley were spending a few days,to sa good buy to old John.Then he road on,tall and graceful atop his great golden horse,to where duty called and new adventure waited.Verna blue eyes were dreamy as she gazed after his departing form.


























SMALL GROUP DECISION MAKING
Second Edition
By B.Aubrey Fisher

Understanding the nature of group process requires an understanding of the nature of “group” and “process.” Process involve the dynamic relationships of events in an ongoing,continuous sequence of time.Each ingredient of the process affects,and is affected by,every other ingredient as changes in the process evolve through time.Although many perspective have been used to defined “group,” this book utilities the perspective of interdefendence and interaction.A collection of individuals develops “groupness” over time so that the identify of a group exists apart from the separate identities of its individual members.
A group is conceived to be a system characterized by its structure (the pattern of relationships among components at any given point in time),its function (the regulatory,reccuring day-to-day relationships among through time),and its evolution (the continuous changes of structure and function over a long period).Rather than perceiving individual persons as the components of the group system,this book consider communicative behaviours as the units for defining,observing,and analyzing the group system.Thus,a group is a collection of individual persons whose communicative behaviours- specificcally acts,interacts,and double interacts – become interstructured and repetitive in the form of predictable patterns.The prototype group that embodies all the elements of group process and is minimally inhibited by external or environmental constraints is the leaderless group discussion.
Individual persons join groups as a result of social – comparison processes.Successful group decision making is thus a direct result of each person’s integration into group membership.Central to this integrative process are the mutual and reciprocal functionings of self-disclosure,interpersonal trust,and risk.
Communication,viewed as a process,contain both sructural and functional dimensions.Stuctural elements are consistent with a view of communication as transmitting and receiving messages on channels.Feedback responses,one structural element of communication,are unavoidable and occur continuosly during the give and take of group interaction.Effective feedback responses during group interaction depend upon the cohesiveness of the group membrs and the interpretations of those feedback responses by the persons who receive them.
Certain characteristic of the messages that constitute the group interaction are important to decision making.However,the timing of the messages may be more significant to effective group decision than the content of the messages.
Viewed structurally,group communication has been perceived as a network - the pattern of channels that link members of the group.Networks are distinguished from one another by relative centrality and distance among network positions.The most central position in a network has been linked with leaders and with deviants who are under extreme social pressure to conform.During the process of group decision making,several networks generally emerge from the group’s interactive patterns and reflect coalition formation and leadership at various stages in the group process.
Channel capacity - the structural restraints limiting the amount of information that can b processed efffectively –illustrates a potential reason underlying the group process of decision modification.Furthermore,the person who occupies the gatekeeping position in the network is responsible for receiving,transforming,and retransmitting information to other members of the group.The gatekeeper is often subjected to information overload,that is,to receiving more information than is humanly possible to process and relay to others.On the other hand,barriers and breakdowns of communication are considered as untenable concepts which are inconsistent with viewing communication as a process.
Perhaps the most pervasive element of social systems is the existence of leadership and a status hierarchy.In the LGD,roles fall into several hierarchical levels,typiclly two or three,proportional to the contribution of each member in aiding the group to achieve the group goals.In an LGD,each meber achieves a status level through communicative behaviors rather than through being given status by some authority outside the group.The leader’s status is based on a reciprocal influence of leader and followers – an interdependence among the communicating embers in the LGD.
Several perspective of viewing leadership have been popularly employed in the past.They include the traits,styles,situational,and functions approaches to group leadership.The functions perspective,unlike any of the others,focuses on the communicative behaviors of individual members and their relative contriburions to the group’s progress.This perspective deemphasizes leadership as defined by the person who occupies a given position in a network of roles.Because there have been so few studies of leadership utilizing the functions perspective,no comprehensive list of comunicative behavior associated with leadership yet exist.But a partial list of behaviors is available.
Employing the functions perspective,leadership is viewed as a process whereby a group leader achieves status gradually over time as a direct result of group interation patterns.That process,termed “leader emergence,” may generally be described as process of elimination in which each member is a contender for leadership,but each is eliminated,one by one,until a single person remains and is recognized as group leader.
A basic model of leader emergence hypothesize three stages off elimination.In stage 1,uninformed,low-participating members are eliminated.In stage 2,two or more contenders emerge by gaining lieutenants who support their leadership contention.Those contenders eliminated in stage 2 typically areoverly directive and use offensive verbalization so that as leader.Several variations from this basic model are possible in a paticular small group.
Behaviors associated with emergent leaders include being verbally active,demonstrating communicative skill,consistenly initiating themes,eeking opinions and information in early and intermediate stages of group development,stating opinions and attempting to persuade other members in intermediate and later stages of group development,and adopting an informed and objective argumentative stence.
The LGD also manufactures formal symbols of legitimacy in group interaction.Such symbols,which may be physical objects or member activity,are associated with a particular member and with the formal authority of leadership,although they may vary from group.Although stereotyped attitudes of sex roes remain prominent,our society’s attitudes are currently in a state of rapid change.Consequently,males and females who function as group leaders probably do not differ significantly from one another in terms of the communicative actions they use in leading.However,the group members or followers may perceive differences because of their previously held attitudes regarding sex-role stereotypes.
The right of dissent in our society is one of our most cherished privilileges,although conformity,inescapable and inevitable,is more often the rule.Conformity to behavioralstandars of a social system implies not only uniformity of behavior but uniformity based on conflict among alternatives and avoidance of unpleasant social pressures.Pressures toward conformityin the small group are extraordinarily severe,although a deviating member gains strength to resist such pressure by having publicly commited himself or herself to a deviant position or when another member agrees with that deviant position.
Many people in our society are ambivalent about conflict and deviance and often view the social system as functioning in a delicate balance of supportive forces.Thus,conflict may be seen as existing within one person,between two or more persons,within the same social system,or between social systems.Social conflict is also classified as affective or substantive-emotional or intellectual.
When a perfec or ideal social system is assumed,social conflict appears as a failure of the social system and as inherently destructive.Others who adopt a functionalist approach perceive social conflict and deviance as often performing desirable,constructive,and even essential functions instrumental to the effective operation of the social system.If conflict is destructive,it must be resolved or controlled.On the other hand,constructive conflict must be understood and managed in order to achieve its social benefits.The multifaceted nature of social conflict and deviance dictates the emphasis on interpersonal,substantive conflict serving constructive functions for the small group.
Social conflict and deviance perform many functions beneficial to the group process.Conflict furthers group cohesivness and increases productivity.Innovative deviant behavior is essential for progress as the group grows and changes through time.Groups manage deviant behavior through counteracting it with negative feedback loops or amplifying it through positive feedback cycles.
Realistically,social conflict and deviance are so common to the process of group development that they are considered normal within the group proces.A decision-making group invokes social conflict as members test ideas in a critical exchange of information and opinions.Coalitions form temporarily around conflicting ideas before typically merging as the group achieves consensus.And the leader,paradoxically enough,normally conforms to and deviates from group norms in the process of gaining and maintaining leadership status.
Verbal innovative deviance,an agreement on group goals but disaagreement on means to achieve the,is suggested as an insight into the ongoing process of social conflict in group interaction patterns.Verbal innovative deviance seems to account for a significant proportion of group interaction and appears in clusters or spurts of deviant behavior with normal periods of group flight behavior.Normally,only innovative deviant behaviors exert a significant impact on group interaction patternsand are generally distributed among all involved group members.
Different types of conflict occur during the process of group decision making.Social conflict may be interpersonal,confrontative or substantive,depending upon to the phase of groupdecision making in wjich it appears.Consequently,strategies for managing conflict and deviance during the group process vary considerably.Nevertheless,some general tactics for conflict management are possible.These strategies include confronting the conflict issue or deviant,avoiding compromise “solutions” and believing in the eventual positive functions of conflict.