ABSTRACT
In the preceding section I described one cause of oscillation in a group. I wish now to consider a phenomenon that may lead either to such oscillation or else to schism. In my fifth article I said that ‘development’ was an important function of the W group. It is also one of the respects in which the W group differs from the basic-assumption group. The W group is necessarily concerned with reality and, therefore, might be said to have some of the characteristics Freud attributes to the ego in his discussion of the individual. Since the W group is concerned with reality, its techniques tend ultimately to be scientific. The point now is the resistance that is set up when development is demanded of the group or of the individuals composing it.
