12 Angry Men Assignment Essay

Words: 2006
Pages: 9

A. Groups and Teams
1. Identify the dysfunctional and functional properties of the group in the film as they pertain to the problem the group is working on.
In this film, the numerous functional and dysfunctional properties of the 12-jury men play a big role in analysing and evaluating the main purpose at hand, namely identifying the young man guilty or innocent for the murder of his father.
The different roles the 12-jury men play in the deliberation of the capital murder case is prominent. Firstly, a role can be defined as a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. Different groups enforce different role requirements on individuals namely; role expectation, role perception

(The different roles of the 12-jury men can be seen in the table below.)

Foreman Juror 1 is the assigned leader. The foreman’s main role is to keep the jury organized.
Outside the jury room he is an assistant football coach.
2nd Juror The second juror is a bank clerk.
He is introverted and shy but, feels comfortable enough to participate in the discussion.
3rd Juror The third juror is a small business owner. He is proud of his business and shares how he started his business from the bottom, to him being an employer of thirty-four employees, to the other jury members. The juror and his own son does not have a good relationship and is no longer speaking to each other, this is learned early on.
(The fact that they come off on the wrong foot, can be seen as a factor contributing to his prejudice against the defendant, who is accused of murdering his own father). Once the 3rd juror realized that his own circumstances and feelings towards his son was projecting the way he felt about the defendant.

4th Juror The forth juror is a stock broker. He wears glasses which is suitable for the way he comes off. He can be described as a serious person, who evaluates the facts provided in a logical and concrete matter.
5th Juror The 5th juror shares his knowledge about the knife/switch blade used in the murder which he obtained trough growing up in the slums. He works in a (Harlem) hospital.
6th Juror The 6th juror isn’t very