ABSTRACT
Drawing upon the work of W. R. Bion, H. Rosenfeld, D. Meltzer, and J. Steiner, this chapter develops the hypothesis that there exists in the life of the mind and the group an "internal establishment", a highly organized agency under whose protection a kind of life is allowed to continue. Drawing the connections between Bion's last writings and his earliest thoughts on the basic group and proto-mental activity, Meltzer notes how Bion evokes the picture "of primitive, perhaps tribal, life in the depths of the mind". He conjectures that this proto-mental apparatus, organized as an establishment, operates on the borderline between mind and body. The chapter further discusses the way in which both the individual and the group seek to protect themselves from an immanent terror by turning away from life itself. This struggle between development and destruction lies at the heart of the internal society that Bion suggests is part of the social nature.
