Social behavior of chronic schizophrenics in supervised and unsupervised work groups.

Small groups of chronic schizophrenics worked at policing a dormitory under 1 of 2 conditions of staff supervision: Maximal (active leadership) and Minimal (once the tasks were set patients were left to their own devices). Each group was composed of 5 patients. 3 groups worked under each supervisory condition. The groups were matched for age, length of hospitalization, education, and general verbal behavior of the patients. Measurements of performance and social behavior were daily over a 7-week period. The less supervised group showed signs of cohesiveness and lessened dependency on the staff member for decisions, with some indication of increased job performance. All groups showed decreased verbal interaction over time. Although the use of verbal communication was avoided whenever possible during the experimental period, the Ss showed signs of the formation of group structures and task-related roles were observed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)