On the Conjunction of Basic Assumptions in the Enlarged Group
Titel:
On the Conjunction of Basic Assumptions in the Enlarged Group
Auteur:
Caruso, Sergio
Verschenen in:
International forum of psychoanalysis
Paginering:
Jaargang 11 (2002) nr. 4 pagina's 244-254
Jaar:
2002-12-01
Inhoud:
According to Bion, group mentality is inspired by three basic assumptions (dependence, fightflight, pairing) dominating in turn. No conjunctions of basic assumptions seem to be possible. The author, however, formulates the hypothesis that such conjunctions may take place in weakly structured enlarged groups, midway between small groups and the institutional larger groups described by Freud and Bion as Church, Army and Aristocracy. A case study is here presented, wherein the group session appears to be dominated by a baFF+baP conjunction (i.e. a combination of fight-flight and pairing emerging simultaneously). The in-depth analysis highlights the shared unconscious fantasy corresponding to this conjunction, i.e. the Weapon-Baby fantasy. Having split the parental couple into a good one and a bad one, the group expects the good couple to generate a Divine Baby capable of leading the war against the bad couple. The "good" pairing thus evoked, however, is nothing but a combined object, only capable of faecal offspring: a Stool Baby, which can only be used to be thrown against the Enemy. Similar fantasies can be found at the individual level in manic-personality pseudo-creativity. At the social level, the same baFF+baP conjunction seems to apply as well to political movements such as Hitlerism.
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