Consciousness-Raising Groups in the 1970's

Based on a 1974 nationwide survey, this paper describes the characteristics of 1, 669 women in consciousness-raising (CR) groups. Most women in the survey are white, middle- and upper-middle class women who joined their first CR group during the 1970's. They learned about CR groups primarily from women friends and joined a group with friends or through a women's organization. Sixty-five percent of the women considered themselves to be members of the women's movement prior to their joining a CR group. Most women identified themselves as liberal (58%) or radical (21%). Women's primary reason for joining a CR group was to learn from, share with, and gain support from other women; they joined to examine personal issues within the context of their common social roles. Sharing experiences and feelings as women was the most salient group process. Women in this survey were highly satisfied with their CR group experience and encouraged other women to join a CR group.     

Factors Influencing Women's Participation in Consciousness-Raising Groups

The results of a nationwide survey point out both commonality and diversity in the experiences of women in consciousness-raising (CR) groups. Women commonly joined CR groups through women's organizations, and their most important reason for entering CR was to examine women's roles and experiences. Most groups encouraged self-disclosure and openness and discouraged domineering and lack of commitment. The backgrounds and personal characteristics of CR participants were diverse. Housewives, women with children, and women with higher levels of symptoms more strongly valued psychological help as a reason for joining CR; in contrast, working women and students, women without children, and women with fewer symptoms more strongly endorsed strengthening their feminism. Women's reasons for joining in turn predicted which CR experiences they valued. Nearly all women were highly satisfied with CR. Satisfaction with CR was not related to members' personal characteristics, but rather to the processes occurring in their groups.     

The Anticipation of Death by Violence

ABSTRACT: College students (n = 172) completed Cattell's personality factor questionnaire, Rotter's locus of control scale, Speilberger's trait anxiety measure, and Sabatini and Kastenbaum's self-completed death certificate. Comparison of profiles for subjects anticipating sudden violent death (SVD, n = 59) with those anticipating natural death (ND, n = 113) disclosed that the SVD group was characteristically more anxious and socially isolated. A sex-by-type of death interaction occurred for locus of control, with SVD females being the most external, suggesting that this group was more likely to “give up” in response to stress. The data support Shneidman's concept of subintentioned death in disclosing that several personality factors may be associated with violent death.