Posted by Dr. Bob on December 7, 2004, at 8:36:12
Hi, everyone,
I thought I'd pass on the below (not an exact quote), from a chapter that was suggested to me:
> What can we do to prevent casualties in the groups in which we are leaders or members? What have I learned from my experiences with casualties?
>
> I have learned to watch and listen for, and comment on, (a) either/or as opposed to both/and thinking, (b) discomfort with one of those polar opposites, and (c) believing in social stereotypes. All facilitate projective identification (imagining that what you reject in yourself is contained in another) and its counterpart, introjective identification (imagining that you contain what is thrown out by another). These lead to the perception of and preoccupation with exaggerated polar differences, which facilitate scapegoating (devaluing, isolating, extruding) of a "problem" individual or group.
>
> I have learned to intervene promptly, but not prematurely, when scapegoating takes the form of self-righteously, indiscriminately, dogmatically, and without nuance blaming an individual or group. Or when scapegoating takes the form of an obsessive, subtly denigrating, and at the same time self-aggrandizing, solicitude for or concern about an individual or group.
>
> I have learned to stay as much as possible with a group-as-a-whole or a social-systemic level of analysis to mitigate inclinations to create scapegoats.
>
> I have learned to encourage conflict, dissent, and negotiation across the leader-members boundary. If the boundary is relatively impermeable, the tensions between the leader and members are recreated in or deflected to the relations among the members themselves.--Edelson M, Belling the Cat. In: Edelson M, Berg DN, "Rediscovering Groups: A Psychoanalyst's Journey Beyond Individual Psychology".
Bob
poster:Dr. Bob
thread:425655
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20041109/msgs/425655.html