ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the difficulty that emerges when groups of people severely damage each other and the inherent complexity involved in repair. By cautiously using aspects of Melanie Klein’s positions to illustrate the shifts that occur in the positions of leaders, the changing nature of power is explored.
It also explores ways in which the mechanism of projective identification affects groups of people as unacceptable ideas from one group are foisted onto others, ridding the original source of intolerable feelings or attributes.
When threats from those who impose unfair demands, constraints, or biases on others are at play, fear, intimidation, and other negative emotional states can overtake the general mindset of groups of people and can cause members of those groups to “follow the leader” as they lose their own individual sense of justice and fair play that they otherwise would be likely to exhibit.
An example is provided that illustrates how damage is done when mentalization goes awry, i.e., when well-intended people are influenced by a force that takes away their ability to think for themselves or render decisions that reflect fair-mindedness. This state of mind would not be at play if they were acting as individuals.
