ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a destructive force in our world, a force that destroys relationships between people as well as groups as power over others prevails. This force is called projective identification. It was initially discussed as a psychological phenomenon by Melanie Klein in 1946. It occurs when a person (or group) projects unwanted aspects of him- or herself onto another, who is jarred by the intrusion. This mechanism damages the emotional connection between two people or between groups of people.
Hope can also emerge from this process as projections are “taken back” by the person or group of people who initially disavowed unwanted qualities or attributes while attributing them to someone else or another group. This taking back of projections occurs as one moves from Klein’s paranoid-schizoid position to the depressive position (Messina, 2009 p. 337).” Most often it occurs with the help of another person who can modify what was previously projected. This helps a person or group of people take responsibility for what was initially cast off and disavowed.
