"The emphasis on change at many levels of organization is critically important as is the first attempt to integrate sophisticated theory and research in organization psychology (e.g., Gersick, Hackman) with social psychological models of development such as Moreland and Levine."

--Reuben M. Baron, Emeritus, University of Connecticut

"Arrow, McGrath, and Berdahl?s ?Small Groups as Complex Systems? will change the way you think about groups, the way you think about research, and even the way you think about science." --Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"The book is excellent, one of those very rare works that will have substantial impact on the field. I would use the book without hesitation in any advanced graduate seminar dealing with groups."

--Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"A conceptually elegant analysis of groups as systems. Although the systems approach has been growing more influential in various fields of social psychology in the last ten years, no one has put forward a definitive analysis that applies with fidelity the general systems approach to group processes. McGrath and his colleagues fill that gap, not by paying lip service to popular scientific concepts such as recursive causality, open systems, attractors, and complexity theory, but by fully integrating these concepts into their no-nonsense analysis of such group level processes as formation, task performance, composition, development, and termination. Empirical work is folded into the theoretical mix along the way, but the focus is unrelentingly conceptual with the result that the authors deliver on their promise of developing a powerful, unified theory of group dynamics."

--Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"Theirs is an ambitious book. They have profound ramifications for experimental social psychology. It is worth mentioning that AMD (Arrow, McGrarth, and Berdahl) list an ethnographic approach, which often implies the adoption of hermeneutic and semiotic methods (a hallmark of the anti-Enlightenment tradition in psychology), as a possible way forward."

--Yoshihisa Kashima, American Journal of Psychology

What are groups? How do they behave? Arrow, McGrath, and Berdahl answer these questions by developing a general theory of small groups as complex systems. Basing their theory on concepts distilled from general systems theory, dynamical systems theory, and complexity and chaos theory, they explore groups as adaptive, dynamic systems that are driven by interactions among group members as well as between the group and its embedding contexts. In addition, they consider not only the group?s members and their distribution of attributes, but also the group?s tasks and technology in order to understand how those members, tasks, and tools are intertwined, coordinated, and adjusted. Throughout the book, the authors focus our attention on relationships among people, tools, and tasks that are activated by a combination of individual and collective purposes and goals that change and evolve as the group interacts over time.

The objective of the present study was to assess the extent to which parental acculturation is associated with beliefs in the benefits of smoking in children and adolescents immigrants from countries in which smoking rates are higher than those in Quebec, using age as a covariate. It was hypothesized that parental heritage acculturation would correlate positively with children's beliefs in the benefits of smoking, and that parental mainstream acculturation would correlate negatively with children's beliefs in the benefits of smoking. As predicted, parental heritage acculturation was significantly and positively correlated with children's beliefs in the benefits of smoking; children's age was also found to positive relate to children's beliefs in the benefits of smoking. These findings suggest that high heritage culture affiliation has a greater impact on children's views of smoking than time spent immersed in the mainstream culture. These research findings could assist policy makers targeting future campaigns against tobacco use in children, and decrease smoking rates.

"The emphasis on change at many levels of organization is critically important as is the first attempt to integrate sophisticated theory and research in organization psychology (e.g., Gersick, Hackman) with social psychological models of development such as Moreland and Levine."

--Reuben M. Baron, Emeritus, University of Connecticut

"Arrow, McGrath, and Berdahl?s ?Small Groups as Complex Systems? will change the way you think about groups, the way you think about research, and even the way you think about science." --Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"The book is excellent, one of those very rare works that will have substantial impact on the field. I would use the book without hesitation in any advanced graduate seminar dealing with groups."

--Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"A conceptually elegant analysis of groups as systems. Although the systems approach has been growing more influential in various fields of social psychology in the last ten years, no one has put forward a definitive analysis that applies with fidelity the general systems approach to group processes. McGrath and his colleagues fill that gap, not by paying lip service to popular scientific concepts such as recursive causality, open systems, attractors, and complexity theory, but by fully integrating these concepts into their no-nonsense analysis of such group level processes as formation, task performance, composition, development, and termination. Empirical work is folded into the theoretical mix along the way, but the focus is unrelentingly conceptual with the result that the authors deliver on their promise of developing a powerful, unified theory of group dynamics."

--Donelson R. Forsyth, Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth U

"Theirs is an ambitious book. They have profound ramifications for experimental social psychology. It is worth mentioning that AMD (Arrow, McGrarth, and Berdahl) list an ethnographic approach, which often implies the adoption of hermeneutic and semiotic methods (a hallmark of the anti-Enlightenment tradition in psychology), as a possible way forward."

--Yoshihisa Kashima, American Journal of Psychology

What are groups? How do they behave? Arrow, McGrath, and Berdahl answer these questions by developing a general theory of small groups as complex systems. Basing their theory on concepts distilled from general systems theory, dynamical systems theory, and complexity and chaos theory, they explore groups as adaptive, dynamic systems that are driven by interactions among group members as well as between the group and its embedding contexts. In addition, they consider not only the group?s members and their distribution of attributes, but also the group?s tasks and technology in order to understand how those members, tasks, and tools are intertwined, coordinated, and adjusted. Throughout the book, the authors focus our attention on relationships among people, tools, and tasks that are activated by a combination of individual and collective purposes and goals that change and evolve as the group interacts over time.

Beginning in New Testament times, there is a time-honoured tradition of forming new Christians in the essentials of faith: catechesis. This volume aims to uncover the riches of this tradition for all who teach and preach the faith today, and well as animate it: St Augustine wrote that joy should be the prime characteristic of those who teach the faith. Six outstanding theologians and historians open up the tradition of catechesis for today's church: * Alister McGrath explores the role of the creeds in catechesis; * Susan Gillingham, Professor of the Hebrew Bible, looks at the Psalms in Christian formation; * Jennifer Strawbridge, Associate Professor of New Testament, reflects on catechesis in the early church; * Carole Harrison, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, offers lessons from the patristic period; * Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, draws lessons from the Anglo Saxon missions to Europe; * Simon Jones, Chaplain of Merton College and member of the Liturgical Commission, links formation and liturgy; * Steven Croft shows how this great tradition can be revitalised today.