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The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled
The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled is a work of narrative nonfiction concerning book on Mind Dynamics (a.k.a. Leadership Dynamics and Holiday Magic), written by Gene Church and Conrad D. Carnes. The book was published Outerbridge & Lazard, Inc., in 1972, and was republished in a paperback edition in 1973, by Pocket Books. The book was later the basis for the 1983 film, Circle of Power.[1] The title refers to the encounter group movement that was prevalent at the time, which evolved into what psychologists began to term Large Group Awareness Training.[2] The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled is listed in the 1987 edition of Best Sellers, at the University of Scranton archives.[3] The book was featured in The New York Review of Books, in 1973.[4] AuthorsGene Church had previously studied psychology at Ohio State University and Ohio University. He had enrolled in the Leadership Dynamics coursework as a requirement of his association with Holiday Magic.[5] At the time of the book's publication, Conrad D. Carnes was an attorney practicing law with the firm of Carnes & Hornbeck in Columbus, Ohio.[5] The authors later wrote a follow-up book, Brainwash, in 1983.[6] Gene Church also gave a related lecture series at universities, entitled: "An encounter group horror story."[7] SummaryEvents depicted in the book took place over four-days at the Hyatt House motel in Palo Alto, California, and included management executives from Holiday Magic.[5] The book revealed details of the events that went on during the coursework at Mind Dynamics and Leadership Dynamics. The book stated that Holiday Magic] participants in the Leadership Dynamics sessions were required to register in the coursework, at a cost of US$1,000, "..in order to get ahead in the company."[5] Golembiewski stated that the book described "illustrative chapter and verse" of the coursework, including such training aids as a cross, a coffin, oxygen bottles, and piano wire.[8] Participants that instructors deemed as "dead" to their lives, were told to stay in the coffin until they realized "..how much it means to be alive."[5] Leadership Dynamics instructors felt that by putting individuals in a cage, they would "..appreciate the value of the freedom that they already possess."[5] The cross was used to demonstrate what it felt like to be persecuted at work. There was also a "silver chalice", which was supposed to "..make each man face the truth honestly and so to understand himself and others better.."[5][9] Cited by other worksThe Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled has been cited in academic journal articles which analyze encounter groups and large group awareness training, including the Journal of Humanistic Psychology,[10] and more recently in Human Resource Development Review, in 2005.[11] The book has also been cited as a reference in other works which discuss these subjects, including Organization Development,[8] Approaches to Planned Change,[12] The Regulation of Psychotherapists,[13] Handbook of Organizational Consultation,[14] Managing Diversity in Organizations,[15] and Self Realization.[16] References
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