Small groups revisited : a psycho-pastoral study

Abstract

Writing about small groups in the eighties may be considered as an attempt at tracing the history of a phenomenon once at its peak of interest but now an anachronistic topic. For some this might appear like resuscitating

a controversial issue already buried a decade ago. The small group phenomenon witnessed a sharp increase of interest and became a constant focus

of attention during the decades following World War II only to taper off

during the seventies. This is particularly noticeable in surveying the psycho- logical literature on the subject and in observing the growth and decline of

this phenomenon in church-related settings. This historical fact allows us, however, to view and assess the small group phenomenon 'at a distance', retrospectively, without being biased by the popular enthusiasm so prevalent at the time.