Circling Science

The Impact of Encounter Groups on Participants: Some Preliminary Findings

Morton A. Lieberman, Irvin D. Yalom and Matthew B. Miles · 1972

Evidence
Controlled study
Kind
Journal article
peer-reviewed
Method
Encounter-group comparison with pre-group, post-group and six- to eight-month assessments
Sample
209 students in 18 groups and 69 comparison participants
Published
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 8(1), 29–50
Practices
Encounter groups

Adjacent

Studies a related practice or mechanism, without testing Circling.

A preliminary evaluation of encounter groups reported both benefits and harms and examined how outcomes related to leaders’ behaviour.

What it doesn’t show

This reports the same encounter-group project as Yalom and Lieberman (1971), so the two entries are not independent evidence. Participants were students interested in joining groups. The abstract describes random allocation among group approaches but does not establish random allocation to the separate comparison sample. The students had asked for an encounter-group experience.

Summary based on the abstract. No accessible full text was found.

Directions that build on it

  1. Safety, facilitation and harm

    Builds on 14 works · 3 funding routes

    What makes a circle safe, and what goes wrong when it isn’t?

  2. Transfer beyond the room

    Builds on 6 works · 2 funding routes

    Does closeness built in a circle carry into people’s existing relationships?

Links

Cite

Lieberman, M. A., Yalom, I. D., & Miles, M. B. (1972). The Impact of Encounter Groups on Participants: Some Preliminary Findings. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 8(1), 29–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002188637200800102