ABSTRACT
The 'social' part of 'psychosocial' comes from the modified application of elements of psychoanalytic theory, mainly adapted from the theoretical writings of Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, Wilfrid Bion and Jacques Lacan, to interpretations and understandings of social situations. Mari Ruti continues: Psychoanalysis at its best – when it curtails its dogmatic and prescriptive tendencies – can empower us to embrace the unforeseen with a measure of resourcefulness. Before leaving reflexivity – though leaving is perhaps not the right word since the concept will re-emerge repeatedly in the pages that follow – there are some further points that require clarification. Rather than facilitating real-time modifications, which themselves can be further reflected on post hoc, the intrusion of reflexivity in the classroom, bringing with it a less than welcome eruption of affect, is more likely to lead to conflict, to panic or to despair.
