Race, Culture and Containment in the Formal and Informal Systems of Group Relations Conferences

This paper addresses experiences, observations, and hypotheses about the function of the informal system and its relationship to the formal system within a conference and/or experiential structure. For the purposes of this paper, formal systems are defined as systems that comprise conference or conference-like structures, and informal systems will be defined as group and paired activities occurring both inside and outside the boundaries of the temporary institution. Exploration of the relational aspects of both systems will be linked to basic assumption theory; specifically, focusing on the informal system's connection to basic assumption functioning, as well as the question of whether or not what occurs within the informal system can be defined as work. As a researcher, I am interested in how aspects of race, gender, and cultural diversity impact group dynamics, and exploration of these variables will be the focus of the presentation and analyses of three vignettes. Another question to be explored is: what is the significance of the informal system to the conference and/or temporary institution as a whole? It would seem that although much of what occurs within the informal system holds an important place in the conference as a whole, activities occurring in this sphere are, like basic assumption group functioning, generally not regarded as work in conference and other organizational structures. Moreover, informal system activities are often ambivalently held and/or withheld across the boundaries between conference members and staff, or employers and employees. Some of the consequences of maintaining the split between the formal and informal systems will also be explored in this paper, through the presentation of the three vignettes. Much of the material presented will come from my experience in group relations conferences in the USA and the UK, in both the staff consultant and member roles. This paper draws on applications of psychoanalysis, specifically focusing on Bion (1975), and Lawrence, Bain and Gould (1996).