ABSTRACT
The reality of the group unconscious and the crucial importance of boundaries are particularly relevant to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome crisis. Destructive impulses coming from the group unconscious do not listen to objective information. Attitudes do not necessarily correlate with relevant knowledge. One frequent reason why a staff support group might cease to exist is that its conductor has no power to protect it against external attacks. On the simplest level, such interference could be the change of the group room by the institution without previous notice having been given to the conductor or someone extraneous knocking at the door while the group is in session. The group might laugh off similar acts of intrusion as being amusing, but the group's unconscious perceives them correctly as hostility, envy or jealousy coming from the unconscious of other groups within the institution. Without full managerial backing, the conductor might not be able to protect the group from such assaults.
