ABSTRACT

This monograph introduces a paradigm for the understanding of group phenomena based upon the development of object relations, the self, and the ego. From this perspective, groups, in their evolution, embody and recapitulate the symbiosis/separationindividuation process (Mahler, Pine, and Bergman, 1975). The child’s inner life and interaction with the environment are repeated in groups and form a conceptual model for a process in which the group forms a cohesive entity, defines boundary conditions and roles, and copes with issues of power, task, and intimacy. Such a view is complementary to the Oedipal perspective (Freud, 1913, 1921) in which group dynamics are seen predominantly as a function of the members’ transference to the leader as a ‘fatherfigure’ and totem object.