The underground newspaper: A case study in small group cohesiveness

A characteristic of all social groups, to some extent, is cohesiveness or solidarity. A case study of an "underground" newspaper in a Southern city provides an example of this phenomenon in a small group. Although the staff members are harassed and threatened hy other persons in the community, and handicapped by the lack of funds and equipment, they continue to publish and organize leftist activities. Threat from a source outside the group has been found to increase the cohesiveness of a group. It was hypothesized that threat was the primary factor in the creation of the great cohesiveness of the newspaper staff. The method chosen was participant observation, combined with short, focused interviews and personal data schedules. The observer served as a photographer and photographic adviser to the group for approximately one year. The hypothesis was not confirmed. The threats and violence directed at the group do not seem to have been primarily responsible for creating the cohesiveness of the group. While threat may have enhanced this cohesiveness, it seems to be the product of a structure of rewards for the group members and devotion to goals which could not be realized through their separate actions.