Psychosocial Dynamics of Twelve Angry Men

Social-Psychology of Twelve Angry Men

As a portrayal of a microcosm of society -- enhanced by its drill-down into the 1950s era in which the plot unfolds -- few films are as excruciatingly accurate as 12 Angry Men. The story lends itself to analysis of team dynamics and conflict resolution techniques, with the promise of extending beyond explicit attributes, such as an all-male cast, and less explicit themes, such as ambiguous hints about ethnicity and race.

The film 12 Angry Men is a story about the deliberations of a jury in a capital murder case that takes place in New York City in 1957. An 18-year-old non-Caucasian male, who is apparently from marginalized socio-economic strata, has been accused of stabbing his father to death. A jury of 12 men will deliberate his guilt or innocence against a backdrop of an automatic death sentence for...
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