Crisis in the Centre County Courthouse

The study of the phenomenon of what happens to individuals when we put them into a group is called group dynamics. 

The term dynamics is one that we borrow from science – the forces or properties either within or that come from outside to promote growth or change a system. 

In social science, we study group dynamics and identify those forces in motion as the people within the group. In groups, people can do amazing things that we could never do as individuals.  Unfortunately in groups we can also be a bit wacky and sometimes even dangerous.

If you need an example, just turn to the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

Don’t test me on all the facts of what is happening in the courthouse because, frankly, they are a little hard to follow. An employee accuses the district attorney of falsifying documents. Somewhere along the way, several attorneys jump on board  with their own accusations. A few of those attorneys then back out.

Somehow cell phone records and texting became the focus. Law suits related to who had the right to know what about personal cell phone communications and reports of texting between judges and the prosecutor’s office staff during and after trials as well as after business hours have paralleled the forgery accusations.

The County Commissioners and county solicitor are involved because the investigation started with a county employees’s allegation about the falsifying of another judge’s signature on a document. Out of county judges and offices in Harrisburg have also been involved.

Last week, we learned that the Grand Jury determined that Ms. Parks Miller did not falsify documents or signatures and that no charges will be filed.

Now what?

As a taxpayer in Centre County, I look at that whole situation and wonder what in the heck is going behind the scenes?

In other words, what are the dynamics at play? Who is feeding the fires of the conflict? Why won’t someone step in to mediate and more importantly, lead our local judicial community out of this mess and help people get back to the work of our county government?

It reminds me of a group of middle school aged girls. If one ever wants to study group dyanmics, pre-teens are the best population to do so because of how exaggerated and important the “group force” is at that life stage.

Power. Inclusion. Exclusion. How they make decisions. Firmly defined roles. Coercion to go along with the group. Peer pressure. Communication methods and patterns that people outside the group don’t understand. Conflict. Anger. Hurt feelings. Damaged relationships.

Forming. Storming. Norming. Performing.

In middle school, the group dynamics and conflict can become so damaging, that sometimes a parent or teacher or other adult needs to step in. 

I’ve shared the story in class many times of the night I arrived to work on an adolescent unit in a mental health facility and knew that we were in trouble. The kids on the unit had a variety of mental health issues and many had come from homes or living situations that were not safe. On that particular night, the conflict between the kids, between kids and staff, between staff and other staff was palpable.

“What is going on here?” I asked as the new shift person coming in. 

“What do you mean?” asked one of my colleagues.  

The conflict was so intense I swear the air pressure in the building had changed. Over the course of the evening, we held some meetings, talked with the kids and explained that we knew something was up but needed their help to solve it. Later, it came to light that one of the kids had snuck a lighter back into the unit from his visit off grounds with his parents and was quietly telling the other kids he was going to “torch the place” later on. Through mediation, listening, and people being willing to step forward to protect their own safety, we were able to get the lighter and bring the group back to a place of productivity and working together.  

A group that spends all of their time putting out fires of conflict is a group that cannot focus on the purpose and what they are supposed to do.

In the courthouse in Bellefonte, it’s not hard to see that party politics may adding to what on Facebook they are calling the “Crisis in the Courthouse.”  With new demands for terminations and threats of civil litigation, the conflict in Bellefonte seems far from over.

It’s time for someone in charge in Bellefonte to either pull the group together to lead them through the conflict and disruption or bring in a mediator or teambuilder who can do if with outside and objective perspective. 

In middle school, conflicts were often solved with a new common enemy or a sleepover. What will it take in Bellefonte?