ABSTRACT
The process of deflection describes sidestepping or turning away from direct contact. Erving and Miriam Polster first identified deflection as an interruption to contact viewing it as a sub-process of retroflection. In deflection the contact boundary can harden to protect the person’s self-perception that may be an outdated fixed gestalt. Erving and Miriam Polster first identified deflection as an interruption to contact viewing it as a sub-process of retroflection. In deflection the contact boundary can harden to protect the person’s self-perception that may be an outdated fixed gestalt. A particularly subtle deflection, very common in western culture, is where the readers split off a part of our body and comment on it separately, such ‘as arm/leg/fingers hurts’ or ‘stomach aches’.
