Cultivating Task Cohesion

2018 ◽  
pp. 115-125
Author(s):  
Max Abrahms

The key for militant leaders is to cultivate in the ranks what’s known in management as task cohesion. Task cohesion is the degree to which group members act together to accomplish a common goal. This chapter offers what might seem like obvious advice for rebels to cultivate task cohesion in the ranks. But this initial step is crucial and inconsistently applied by leaders to restrain members from jeopardizing the cause with terrorism. Task cohesion in militant groups begins with educating the rank-and-file about their political ends and the optimal means to achieve them. As this chapter shows, education is necessary, though insufficient, for leaders to prevent subordinates from attacking civilians and sinking the cause.

Author(s):  
Kimberly Rios ◽  
Cameron D. Mackey

The definition of group cohesion has been debated since the formal introduction of the concept in social psychology. Group cohesion has undergone a variety of conceptualizations over the years stemming from several theoretical perspectives. Many models of group cohesion have been introduced; however, research with these models is largely confined to the field (e.g., psychology) or subfield (e.g., sports psychology) in which it originated. Initially, unidimensional models of group cohesion were popular, with proponents of these models arguing that cohesion would have the same consequences regardless of its operationalization. However, later research found that group cohesion may be multidimensional in nature. Several two-dimensional models have been proposed, the most popular of which distinguishes between group members working together to attain common goals (task cohesion) and group members interacting with one another on a more personal level (social cohesion). Another multidimensional model of group cohesion builds on the social-task cohesion distinction but further divides social and task cohesion into Group Integration and Individual Attractiveness to Group sub-components, thus creating a four-factor model. Group cohesion has been applied to a variety of group contexts, including sports teams, military squads, and work groups. The amount of cohesion in each group is dependent upon the properties of the group being investigated. Groups that have naturally formed (i.e., “real” groups) have higher rates of group cohesion than groups created for the purpose of a study (i.e., “artificial” groups). Other factors that affect group cohesion include type of group (e.g., interdependent vs. co-acting) and level of analysis (i.e., individual or group). Research on group cohesion has focused on the consequences of group cohesion in lieu of what causes group cohesion in the first place. Furthermore, although much research has detailed the relationship between cohesion and performance, many other positive consequences of group cohesion have not been assessed in depth. Finally, group cohesion is also associated with potential negative consequences, such as groupthink.


Author(s):  
Aida Lasmi ◽  
Habib Bayhaqi ◽  
Suhairi Suhairi

Team building is a group of individuals who have a common goal to be achieved. And to achieve this goal, good cooperation is needed, sharing feelings, mutual respect and mutual encouragement among group members. Several things that affect the formation of groups, among others, are the existence of communication, motivation, being able to manage conflict, competition and cooperation. Cooperation is a means and a sign related to the quality of the group as a gathering place for people in an organization. In building group cooperation, mutual trust, openness or transparency, self-realization or self-realization and interdependence are needed.


2018 ◽  
pp. 138-150
Author(s):  
Max Abrahms

The main argument in this book is that moderation pays for militant groups. The first part of the book revealed Rule #1 for the leaders—the folly of attacking civilians. The second part of the book develops Rule #2—to build the organization in a way that can restrain lower-level members from harming civilians. The last chapter explained why centralization can promote task cohesion in the ranks. Structuring the organization in this way helps leaders to communicate their tactical instructions, discipline wayward members, and vet out potential terrorists. This chapter demonstrates more scientifically the extent to which centralization indeed prevents members from shooting the cause in the foot.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnifred R. Louis ◽  
Craig McGarty ◽  
Emma F. Thomas ◽  
Catherine E. Amiot ◽  
Fathali M. Moghaddam

AbstractWhitehouse adapts insights from evolutionary anthropology to interpret extreme self-sacrifice through the concept of identity fusion. The model neglects the role of normative systems in shaping behaviors, especially in relation to violent extremism. In peaceful groups, increasing fusion will actually decrease extremism. Groups collectively appraise threats and opportunities, actively debate action options, and rarely choose violence toward self or others.


Author(s):  
M. R. Pinnel ◽  
A. Lawley

Numerous phenomenological descriptions of the mechanical behavior of composite materials have been developed. There is now an urgent need to study and interpret deformation behavior, load transfer, and strain distribution, in terms of micromechanisms at the atomic level. One approach is to characterize dislocation substructure resulting from specific test conditions by the various techniques of transmission electron microscopy. The present paper describes a technique for the preparation of electron transparent composites of aluminum-stainless steel, such that examination of the matrix-fiber (wire), or interfacial region is possible. Dislocation substructures are currently under examination following tensile, compressive, and creep loading. The technique complements and extends the one other study in this area by Hancock.The composite examined was hot-pressed (argon atmosphere) 99.99% aluminum reinforced with 15% volume fraction stainless steel wire (0.006″ dia.).Foils were prepared so that the stainless steel wires run longitudinally in the plane of the specimen i.e. the electron beam is perpendicular to the axes of the wires. The initial step involves cutting slices ∼0.040″ in thickness on a diamond slitting wheel.


Author(s):  
Gisèle Nicolas ◽  
Jean-Marie Bassot ◽  
Marie-Thérèse Nicolas

The use of fast-freeze fixation (FFF) followed by freeze-substitution (FS) brings substantial advantages which are due to the extreme rapidity of this fixation compared to the conventional one. The initial step, FFF, physically immobilizes most molecules and therefore arrests the biological reactions in a matter of milliseconds. The second step, FS, slowly removes the water content still in solid state and, at the same time, chemically fixes the other cell components in absence of external water. This procedure results in an excellent preservation of the ultrastructure, avoids osmotic artifacts,maintains in situ most soluble substances and keeps up a number of cell activities including antigenicities. Another point of interest is that the rapidity of the initial immobilization enables the capture of unstable structures which, otherwise, would slip towards a more stable state. When combined with electrophysiology, this technique arrests the ultrastructural modifications at a well defined state, allowing a precise timing of the events.We studied the epithelium of the elytra of the scale-worm, Harmothoe lunulata which has excitable, conductible and bioluminescent properties. The intracellular sites of the light emission are paracrystals of endoplasmic reticulum (PER), named photosomes (Fig.1). They are able to flash only when they are coupled with plasma membrane infoldings by dyadic or triadic junctions (Fig.2) basically similar to those of the striated muscle fibers. We have studied them before, during and after stimulation. FFF-FS showed that these complexes are labile structures able to diffentiate and dedifferentiate within milliseconds. Moreover, a transient network of endoplasmic reticulum was captured which we have named intermediate endoplasmic reticulum (IER) surrounding the PER (Fig.1). Numerous gap junctions are found in the membranous infoldings of the junctional complexes (Fig.3). When cryofractured, they cleave unusually (Fig.4-5). It is tempting to suggest that they play an important role in the conduction of the excitation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1131-1138
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Dignazio ◽  
Megan M. Kenny ◽  
Erik X. Raj ◽  
Kyle D. Pelkey

Purpose It is known that people who stutter (PWS) benefit from self-help experiences, such as attending support groups or conferences. However, limited research has been done to explore the listening of stuttering-related podcasts as a form of self-help for PWS. This study seeks to understand the reasons why PWS listen to stuttering-related podcasts and provide descriptions of their listening experiences. Method Thirty-three PWS who have listened to stuttering-related podcasts were recruited to participate in an online survey that included multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Responses were analyzed and grouped into descriptive themes. Results Participants reported listening to stuttering-related podcasts as a way to gain information and perspective. They also reported experiences that fit themes of empowerment and camaraderie, as a result of listening. Conclusions Stuttering-related podcasts seem to be a positive self-help tool for PWS. Stuttering support group leaders and/or speech-language pathologists may consider introducing their group members or clients who stutter to this type of audio-based self-help experience.


Author(s):  
Candace Vickers ◽  
Darla Hagge

This article describes Communication Recovery Groups (CRG), an aphasia group program that is sponsored by a medical setting and more recently a university setting. CRG's history and approach and its model of service in light of current healthcare challenges are summarized. The article also provides a detailed discussion regarding the logistics of offering conversation groups to persons with aphasia which are sponsored by medical and/or university settings, the intake process for new group members, and the training of student volunteers to help lead conversation groups.


1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouk Rogier ◽  
Vincent Yzerbyt

Yzerbyt, Rogier and Fiske (1998) argued that perceivers confronted with a group high in entitativity (i.e., a group perceived as an entity, a tight-knit group) more readily call upon an underlying essence to explain people's behavior than perceivers confronted with an aggregate. Their study showed that group entitativity promoted dispositional attributions for the behavior of group members. Moreover, stereotypes emerged when people faced entitative groups. In this study, we replicate and extend these results by providing further evidence that the process of social attribution is responsible for the emergence of stereotypes. We use the attitude attribution paradigm ( Jones & Harris, 1967 ) and show that the correspondence bias is stronger for an entitative group target than for an aggregate. Besides, several dependent measures indicate that the target's group membership stands as a plausible causal factor to account for members' behavior, a process we call Social Attribution. Implications for current theories of stereotyping are discussed.


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