Intra-Group Structuring in the High-School Classes That Have Undergone a Compositional Change

The article describes the characteristics of intra-group structuring in the 10th grades of a secondary school that have undergone a compositional change of a varying degree. Based on the experimental data we demonstrate the following. The view of educators that the change in composition of a school class at the turn of the 9-10 grades is a negative factor from the socio-psychological point of view is erroneous. Moreover, when the compositional changes in the class are insignificant, its intra-group structure becomes “stagnant”, the positions of the high-status “old-timers” become even stronger and “newcomers” do not get a chance for productive interpersonal “career” at all. In case of great compositional changes in the class, its intra-group structure gets qualitatively reformed; the “old-timers” are forced to win their right for top-and-dominant position anew, and “newcomers” get an opportunity to take a status-successful place in the new student community.

1. Volkov I. P. Sociometricheskie metody v social'no-psihologicheskom issledovanii. L., 1970.
2. Doncov A.I. Problemy gruppovoi splochennosti. M.,1984.
3. Kolominskii Ya.L. Psihologiya vzaimootnoshenii v malyh gruppah. M., 2001.
4. Kondrat'ev M.Yu. Social'naya psihologiya v obrazovanii. M., 2008.
5. Kondrat'ev M.Yu. Social'no-rolevaya determinaciya mezhlichnostnogo vospriyatiya v gruppah trudnovospituemyh podrostkov i yunoshei: Diss. … kand. psihol. nauk. M., 1983.
6. Kondrat'ev M.Yu., Il'in V.A.  Azbuka social'nogo psihologa-praktika. M., 2007.   
7. Lichnost' v psihologicheskom eksperimente: Sbornik nauchnyh trudov  / Pod red. A.A.Bodaleva, E.V.Shorohovoi. L., 1973.
8. Pirozhkov V.F. Zakony prestupnogo mira molodezhi. Kriminal'naya subkul'tura. M., 1992.        
9. Frnsella F., Banister D. Novyi metod issledovaniya lichnosti. M., 1987.