ABSTRACT
Paranoiageriesis in groups and organizations, in institutions and in large social systems, is ubiquitous. Group behaviour and pathology have been conceptualized at several levels of abstraction. Mental disturbance, and in particular paranoia, is regarded as stemming from purely intrapsychic dynamics. One of the clearest manifestations of paranoia is the discovery of enemies, both real and imagined. The discovery of an external enemy brings about the momentary stabilization of the large group, and hence an alleviation of its tremendous inner tensions. Paradoxically, then, the anxiety stirred up in relation to the stranger-enemy provides a needed catalyst for the process of self-definition. Negotiations between enemy parties to a conflict need not only the small-group format, but also the clarity and firmness of boundaries that guard against premature exposure which reverts the process back into the large group. Individual regression in groups is explained by the operation of individual intrapsychic mechanisms summed up across individuals.
