12 Angry Men
Introduction
12 Angry Men is the captivating story of 12 jurors trying to solve a case of murder. All with different personalities, fights break out and disagreements occur. However in the end, a lesson is learnt for everyone. When the story begins, all the jurors are eager to convict the defendant, a young minority, on charges of murdering his father. Juror 8 is the lone dissenter. The jury’s deliberations go through a surprizing shift and one by one, the other 11 jurors feel compelled to re-examine their original decision through the lens of their own character and the background of their own lives. The film demonstrates various aspects of group dynamics, groupthink, conflict resolution, negotiation, power, social perception, communication and coaliances, all of which will be discussed further.
Group Dynamics
According to Johnson & Johnson (2009) ‘Group dynamics is the area of social science that focuses on advancing knowledge about the nature of group life. It is the scientific study of the nature of groups, behaviour in groups, group development, and the interrelations between groups and individuals, other groups, and larger entities.’ Groups go through the phases of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The group dynamics of the jury portrayed in 12 Angry Men illustrates the progress through these stages, however, it is done in an interrupted way rather than a constant and evolutionary manner. The forming stage is very short, while the storming phase takes up most of the film. The norming phase takes place quickly and right before the performing phase, where the decision on the verdict is reached (Hord, Huebner, Morgan, & Yoo, 2011).
The initial forming stage in the film is demonstrated when the jurors make casual conversation about sports, news, and the weather. The jurors wait for one team member to re-join them from the mens room, while trying to cool the room with a fan that doesn’t seem to work. In this stage the men make the
12 Angry Men is the captivating story of 12 jurors trying to solve a case of murder. All with different personalities, fights break out and disagreements occur. However in the end, a lesson is learnt for everyone. When the story begins, all the jurors are eager to convict the defendant, a young minority, on charges of murdering his father. Juror 8 is the lone dissenter. The jury’s deliberations go through a surprizing shift and one by one, the other 11 jurors feel compelled to re-examine their original decision through the lens of their own character and the background of their own lives. The film demonstrates various aspects of group dynamics, groupthink, conflict resolution, negotiation, power, social perception, communication and coaliances, all of which will be discussed further.
Group Dynamics
According to Johnson & Johnson (2009) ‘Group dynamics is the area of social science that focuses on advancing knowledge about the nature of group life. It is the scientific study of the nature of groups, behaviour in groups, group development, and the interrelations between groups and individuals, other groups, and larger entities.’ Groups go through the phases of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The group dynamics of the jury portrayed in 12 Angry Men illustrates the progress through these stages, however, it is done in an interrupted way rather than a constant and evolutionary manner. The forming stage is very short, while the storming phase takes up most of the film. The norming phase takes place quickly and right before the performing phase, where the decision on the verdict is reached (Hord, Huebner, Morgan, & Yoo, 2011).
The initial forming stage in the film is demonstrated when the jurors make casual conversation about sports, news, and the weather. The jurors wait for one team member to re-join them from the mens room, while trying to cool the room with a fan that doesn’t seem to work. In this stage the men make the