Sociodrama as a Group Action Method - Essay Example

Sociodrama is a group action method in which participants act out previously established social situations in a spontaneously. In addition, it teaches people to make known their thoughts and feelings, solve problems, and clarify their values. In a typical sociodrama session, a warm-up period takes place in which participants decide what topic the enactment will tackle. The participants then volunteer among themselves and are assigned roles by the director of the sociodrama. The drama itself is never scripted but arises instead from spontaneous interactions among the enactors. After every sociodrama, there is a sharing in which group members discuss the enactment, the solution it presented, and generate references for future sociodramatic events. The sharing is a time to begin to process and integrate what has taken place moments before in action. (Sternberg and Garcia, 2000). Techniques There are various techniques in sociodrama. Sculpting refers to the phase when the director physically places individuals to show how they are perceived to relate. For example, arm in arm, back to back and a stiff pose with a pointed finger. The director lets the people holding the roles begin to speak. Participants can also be taken out of the sculpt and allowed to view it. By stepping out of the sociodrama, the person has some time to reflect on it and perhaps make some changes to the sculpt. (Eckloff, 2006). Doubling is where one group member puts him/herself beside a person in a role and gives voice to that person's unspoken thoughts and feelings. The more a doubler faithfully imitates the posture and actions of the person they are doubling, the more effective it is. It can be used to show that there is something else the character could say rather than just thinking it. Voices is really another form of doubling. Voices can encompass various roles: the women's movement, church, sanctity of the family, government, woman not wanting children, and historical facts. Role reversal is another technique. With role reversal one person moves out of one role and into another. Reversal is utilized in a confrontational scene where it is helpful for one person to understand a situation if he tackles it from another perspective. Soliloquy is another technique. The director stops the action to gives a person space and time to say what is going on inside him/her. This helps the individual explore the role in a way the scene does not allow. Sociodrama has an ending. It begins with a scene, moves to broader issues, then returns with fresh insights. There is time for sharing at the end of the scene. People may share what they have learned from playing different roles. Other volunteers describe what it was like for them and the emotional release which they may have felt. Group members may share what they have learned about the group theme, topic and the thematic issue explored Sociodrama in Theatre Sociodrama can by its unique methods, give back to theatre, helping it to renew itself spontaneously and creatively. Sociodrama may not have theatrical expertise as its aim, but it can be used successfully in preparing for a variety of theatrical endeavors. There are three types of theatre experiences that are relevant to sociodrama: Theatre Arts, Theatre Arts Education, and Theatre-in-Education (TIE). Theatre arts education covers the entire spectrum of theatre aesthetics, focusing on training for actors, directors, and writers. It also involves training students to execute all other facets of theatrical production--for example, scenic design, costume design, stage management. These programs focus on stress professional training, preparing students for jobs in the theatre. This type of training is practical and specific and new programs dwell on the development of the artistic qualities in the student as an integral person. Sociodrama in Education Gordon Vallins founded the Theatre in Education in England, in the 1960s. His vision was to dramatize non-theatre curriculum programs to improve and upgrade classroom learning for both teachers and students. He gathered and encouraged professional actors and teachers to assist him. These teams would go into a school and collaborate with local education authorities to decide on a project that suited their needs. After the performance, each actor/teacher enters a classroom and discusses the topic of the drama with the students. This discussion could be followed by the students and actor/teacher interacting in several creative drama activities, including improvisation. Although the TIE concept started in England, the United States has a number of such companies. The Creative Arts Team, known as CAT, is a professional company of actor/teachers connected with New York University who follows the TIE concept. The CAT can move seamlessly between improvisation and performance to enhance student learning. There are attempts to interwove literacy learning and mathematical understanding by using drama to create opportunities for students to integrate language and mathematics, to make personal meaning, to relate the story to real-world activities, to make decisions, and to apply and extend their new knowledge. The sociodrama and pretend play are situations in which children have to state verbally their plan for the scene, action, and objects. This becomes a prerequisite for successful performance in routines which surround reading in the early grades. Sociodrama is a reliable prerequisite for mathematics literacy. As students dramatize, talk, read, write, and draw to construct their understanding of mathematics, they get to understand and share mathematical concepts. (Harris, 1999). Sociodrama in Religion and Ethics Sociodrama enables people to wrestle with the many facets of an issue and explore the consequences of various actions. This characteristic is particularly helpful for religion and ethics studies where the students can carry out enactments of a moral issue. For instance, sociodrama can explore the sensitive issues of domestic abuse and sexual abuse of children. Before the actors carry out the drama, they can discuss their thoughts on those particular issues. Furthermore, the group members can ask themselves how the problem escalated as it did and what means might they take in their lives to intervene in their own processes when situations seem to be getting out of hand. When tackling and discussing some ethical matters with groups, the freeze frame is a helpful technique. When the respective enactors are at a crucial decision point, the director can freeze the action and ask group members what they think should happen next and what ethical principles motivate their viewpoint. Sociodrama in the Workplace Sociodrama is very useful in the workplace. It can help foster training all levels of personnel, particularly on those who need to develop people skills. Workplace researchers found out that adult employees retain just 15% of what they are told in a lecture, compared with 75% of the material presented in an interactive, experiential way. Sociodrama functions well in other ways besides training. Where a work team has been recently organized, sociodrama facilitates the trust and resource-building process needed for the group to complete their tasks. Further, it provides workers with opportunities to understand and respect each other's contributions. In addition, sociodrama can develop creativity and help people generate alternatives in the workplace. Sociodrama allows people relief from a difficult work situation that one can go back to it refreshed and with new ideas. Sociodrama in Community Jacob Levy Moreno's social activism was instrumental in the development of sociodrama. He believed that sociodrama is inextricably linked to social action, as it mobilizes people around social issues and helps them to explore those problems and the human interaction surrounding those concerns. Sociopolitical issues can be expanded and understood through sociodrama. Moreno believed that the theatre had an incredible potential to stir the human heart and influence and activate people. Groups in Sociodrama The Theatre of Spontaneity (1921-1923) was open to the public and dealt with the issues of the day. Under his leadership, the group was able to transmit democracy in action as they enacted scenes from a Democratic political convention to the schoolchildren of New York City. Sociodrama in psychotherapy Sociodrama can be utilized for therapeutic process. As psychotherapists are so keenly aware, many clients seek treatment because they have problems for which they see no solution: they feel immobilized. People seek help when they fall into depression and low self-esteem. Others have problems dealing with their temper and difficult emotions, such as anger and pain. Sociodrama mobilizes spontaneity and provides people with an opportunity to generate alternatives and try them out in action. Sociodrama is great at getting things going in a quiet or resistant group. It can be great, and it energizes participants through their involvement. Sociodrama focuses on hypothetical roles and group issues, helping people work on therapeutic issues. Sociodrama is helpful in helping a timid group of people and people who are downright terrified of the issues with which the group is dealing. Sociodrama in Language Classes Using sociodrama, pupils play the role of another person to see how it feels to be in someone else's shoes. For example, if a pupil has been ridiculed, that individual and the one who did the ridiculing can reverse their respective roles. Thus, each person may attempt to feel how it feels to be ridiculed as well as the one who did the ridiculing. Feelings experienced need to be discussed. Pupils will learn the consequences of belittling others. Sociodrama has many beneficial and positive uses in various areas of life and living. Several relavant examples were highlighted in this essay. Hence, it should be taught and shared with many other persons and communities. Works Cited Eckloff, Maurine. (2006). "Using Sociodrama to Improve Communication and Understanding." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics. Volume: 63. Issue: 3. Page 259. Ediger, Marlow. (2000). "Speaking Activities and Reading." Reading Improvement. Volume: 37. Issue: 3. Page Number: 137. Harris, Jacqueline. (1999). "Interweaving Language and Mathematics Literacy through a Story." Teaching Children Mathematics. Volume: 5. Issue: 9. Page Number: 520. Sternberg, Patricia and Antonina Garcia. (2000). Sociodrama: Who's in Your Shoes. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Read More