Opening the "black box": Small groups and twenty-first-century sociology

As sociologists look into the new century for sources of explanatory levera ge, we argue that small group research contains untapped theoretical potent ial. Small groups have been largely ignored as a topic in their own right; instead they are treated as a "black box" in which other social phenomena a re observed. We propose a reassessment. By opening the "black box, " sociol ogists will find that the core issues of the discipline come together in sm all groups. We draw together the literatures of five domains, across which the findings on small groups are fragmented. These findings show that small groups are the locus of both social control and social change, where netwo rks are formed, culture is created, and status order is made concrete. We r efer to these as the controlling, contesting, organizing, representing, and allocating features of small groups. As the crossroads where agency meets structure, small groups offer the micro foundations for a twenty-first cent ury sociological agenda.