Field Theory (Kurt Lewin)

He is one of the noted theorists of many who study group functioning scientifically. He highlighted
different forces which influence the group. In order to understand the leadership style, he and his
colleagues created groups and different styles to see the impact on the functioning of the group. In the
Field l Theory, he argued that a group has a living space and it has movement. It attempts to accomplish
group tasks and goals by facing hurdles in the movement.

The group worker using the theoretical framework can design their own intervention in working with
the groups for achieving the group goals with the development of the individuals. "Lewin (1947)
believed that in order to make sense of the world, we should see our present situation the status quo
as being maintained by certain conditions or forces."

Field theory is an important idea in individual and organisational change management. Its
relevance as a theory of leadership and change is highlighted, numerous strengths and weaknesses are
described, and it is shown how it can be used to address problems faced by organisations today. "An
approach to understanding group behaviour by trying to map out the totality and complexity of the field
in which the behaviour takes place. It is one of the four elements of Lewin's Planned approach to
change" (Burnes, 2009).

In his field theory, a ‘field’ is defined as ‘the totality of coexisting facts which are conceived of as
mutually interdependent’ (Lewin 1951: 240). Individuals were seen to behave differently according to
the way in which tensions between perceptions of the self and of the environment were worked
through. The whole psychological field, or ‘life space’, within which people acted, had to be viewed, in
order to understand behaviour. (Lewin 1952). Thus, it can be concluded that an individual’s performance
is strongly affected by his environment. The same person would react differently to same stimulus when
faced with different environments.

Kurt Lewin was one of the pioneers who study the group functioning scientifically. He focused on
the forces that influenced the working of groups. He and his colleagues tried to study leadership styles
by creating groups with different styles of leaderships in order to see their impact on the functioning of
the group.

Lewin introduced several concepts of helping in understanding force in social group work as they are:

Roles-Rights the duties of the members

Norms-Rules governing the behavior of the group members.

The power-the ability of the member to influence.

Cohesion- A feeling of group member towards one another.

Valence-Goals and objective in the living space of the group.

Consensus- the degree of agreement regarding goals and other group phenomena.
Lewin did his pioneering work in the development of field theory, a framework for understanding
human behavior that focuses on how an individual conceptualize and responds to physical and social
environments.

• Field theory provides a paradigm for understanding and conducting studies of group processes and
intergroup relations.

• Unlike Pavlor, Skinner and Gestlian, he conducted experiments on the study of the behavior of
children.

• He conducted a detailed experiment by controlling the child's overall environment during the course
of the investigation to obtain elaborate information.

• He used the comprehensive concept of life space.

• Life space includes everything one needs to know about a person's psychological environment at a
given time.

• He describes individual behavior based on life-space.

• Life space depends on an individual's psychological form.

• It encompasses the person, his drives, tensions, thoughts, and his environment which consists of
perceived objects and events.

• It is commonly observed that a leader becomes authoritarian when the members are seeking favours,

• Lewin argued that the leadership style is a product of interaction between Leader and Member
interaction rather than a personality trait of the leader.

• Lewin, while developing his Field Theory, argued that a group has a life space and it has movement. It
tries to accomplish goals or group

tasks and faces hurdles in its movement (locomotion).

Lewin's equation, B= ƒ (P+E)

It states that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment. The gp. worker using the
Field Theory framework can design their own interventions to achieve gp goal ( e.g. t-gp)

Other field theorists have continued to work on the characteristics of group that influence the
individual behaivour.

• Cohesion has been identified as an important factor, defined as, “the totality of forces acting on
individual members to keep them in the group.

• Cohesion reflects the agreement on goals and norms, shared understanding and a greater
homogeneity in demographic background, as also the productivity, satisfaction and cooperative
interaction patterns.
• Lewin developed t-group as a means to observe the effects of group process on group members and as
a means to induce changes in behaviour.

• Lewin thus helped in developing a theory that people change when they see their behaviour as others
see it, thus leading to development of the feedback method whereby the group members and the group

leader provide feedback to the individual as to how his/her behaviour was affecting them.

• Role plays and simulations are also used to highlight the group process. The group workers using the
field theory framework can design their own interventions in working with the group for achieving the
group goals along with individual development.

REFERENCES:

Konopka.G: Social Group Work : A helping Profession

Trecker.H.B: Social Group Work.

Rengasamy-R: Social Group Work

Lewin K. (1939). Field theory and experiment in social psychology. American Journal of Sociology, 44,
868-897.

Lewin K. (1943). Defining the “Field at a given time.” Psychological Review, 50, 292-310.

https://www.academia.edu/34858608/THEORIES_OF_SOCIAL_GROU_WORK

https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/social-work/social-group-work theory-and-practice/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_work