Defence and Coping
The `Outsider' in the Group
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14775843 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rudolf Balmer (Swiss Medical Association, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 473-482 |
| Publication date | 1995-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Group Analysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0533-3164 • E-ISSN: 1461-717X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0533316495284010 |
| OpenAlex | W2022410421 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
This paper is based on clinical observations of how groups generate defence and coping mechanisms toward members who perceive themselves as totally different from the others and move towards an `outsider' position, expressing serious intentions of leaving the group. The individual background to this dynamic process is a severe narcissistic problem. The group process activates a conflict between intense needs and wishes for emotional exchange, for being recognized, held, integrated and loved, and fear of fusion with the group and loss of individuality. In such situations splitting phenomena and strong feelings of hate and aggression occur The group oscillates between integration and expulsion, identification with the `outsider' and projective defence of aggression. The concept of `coping' in such situations is discussed with respect to S.H. Foulkes's concept of `ego training in action
Acting out · Aggression · Feeling · Id, ego and super-ego · Projective identification · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Psychotherapist · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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