A NOTE ON AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT AND ROLE-PLAYING IN SOCIODRAMA

Abstract

This note was prepared on the premise that it is valuable to build an ever increasing body of knowledge about role-playing and socio-drama tech- niques based on the individual experiences of the practitioner. The experiences discussed here involve the use of role-playing in a classroom composed of local union leaders. These men, members of the United States Steel Workers, were attending a course on Union and the Community at Indiana University. This report suggests a way of heightening the involvement of the audience in the socio-drama by increasing their participation in the role-playing session and thereby increasing the training value of the technique.The social situation presented to the class dealt with a long strike in a rural area where the relatively weak local union was trying to enlist farm support.