Group, Vol. 20, No. 2, 1996
Book Review Group Process and Political Dynamics. Edited by M. F. Ettin, J. W. Fidler, and B. D. Cohen. International Universities Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1995, 372 pp. This volume is a kind of "coming-of-age" of group theory. Its basic premise is that "structures and processes observable in therapy groups are relevant to the dynamics of political events in the world at large" (p. 7). Further, it "builds upon the belief that groups are a basic form of social and cognitive organization, that a 'group-forming potential' is (for all practical purposes) hard-wired into our species, and that fundamental group processes are recognizable across widely ranging contexts" (p. 3; see also Kosseff, 1991, p. 133). Such a leap from the small therapy group's dynamics to those of world events may seem an extravagant extrapolation, but the editors are mindful of this, introducing their book with appropriate tentativeness and caveats (pp. 7-10) as they delineate the likely isomorphic functioning of therapy groups and of political bodies. Many of the articles that follow seem to verify their faith in the common dynamics of both kinds of organizations. The editors mention the necessary role of "participant--observer" in order to keep an appropriately objective distance in examining the data from both kinds of groups, whether these data have to do with multiple selves, personal identity, group membership (e.g., in family, tribes, political party, and nation), or with insider-outsider splitting paradigms. Additionally, they identify emotional ties of kinship, whether ethnic, racial, sexual, or generational, as playing a more preemptive and pertinacious role in identity adherence than was formerly believed, despite whatever disintegrative power has been attributed to the economic forces of the industrial revolution. They also utilize the immensely valuable concept of "projective identification" (p. 11) in describing how the unconsciously operative dynamics of Bion's "basic assumptions" may interfere with the proper and conscious efforts to resolve problems and conflicts in both therapeutic and societal bodies. 175 03624021/96/06110-0175509.50/1 9 1996 Eastern
Group PsychotherapySociety
176
Book Review
In order to diagnose either kind of group, say the editors, we must understand the developmental stage of the group (e.g., what in its history has brought it to its current state); the group's structural aspects, such as its primary purposes, boundaries, its subgroupings, its leaders' roles, etc. Finally, there are the dynamic forces at work in the group, as a result of the interaction of the group's history and acquired patterns of belief. These influence both its present problems and solutions. The book is divided into four parts. There are many fascinating articles in all four parts, but I shall perforce limit myself to only one salient article in each part, while recognizing that each article may address various and different concerns. Part I: Group Dynamics Applied to Political Events Aleksandrowicz and Czepowicz in their article, "Generational Subgroup, the Transfer of Authority and the Influence of Group Dynamics in Sociopolitical and Open Therapeutic Groups in Poland," describe how adults entering the work world in Poland in the midst of a population explosion often found themselves without an appropriate position in the society, and tended to congregate together as "have-nots," while those in authority were viewed as seeking to perpetuate their power at the expense of newcomers. The consequences of this tension led to periods of social unrest and periods of intensified protest against the poor living conditions through strikes and political demonstrations. These episodes were particularly noted in 1980-1981 and in 1992-1993. What was remarkable to the authors was their observation that the patient members of a day hospital became aggressive toward their therapists in community meetings and therapy groups, accusing them of dishonesty, incompetence, and failure to do their duty (apparently not justified) regularly one or two days prior to unpredicted and spontaneous outside social demonstrations. The authors conclude that this "contagion of affect" derives from the influence that the social milieu exerted on the processes within the group, and that this contagion was determined by how close the group was to the social milieu in which it was immersed. Part H: Government Task Groups Mark Ettin, in "The Group Process in President Reagan's National Security Council During the Iran-Contra Affair--Revisited," provides an exhaustive, detailed, and fascinating appraisal of the fragmentation through
Book Review
177
secrecy, subgrouping, loss of boundaries, and polarization of the National Security Council during the Iran-Contra scandals. Ettin reviews the history of both conflicts, the presidential initiatives of Carter and Reagan, the investigation by the Tower Commission, the structure of the National Security Council, and the role of the National Security Advisor. As he describes this fully documented account, he takes note of the group dynamic events along the way which militated against successful utilization of the NSC's proceedings for national policy. For example, he points out that from the beginning, Reagan's NSC was a mere collection of advisors each with separate agendas, rather than a unified working group operating in a regular fashion with an agreed-on task. In this light, he continues, NSC was unprepared to come together in time of crisis and to process often-insufficient data rapidly and consensually. He provides historical evidence of the disintegration of the NSC as a group, and along with it, demonstrates how the usual signals of group dysfunction, such as the group devaluing itself or fragmenting, antipathy among group members, subgrouping, scapegoating, apathy, nonparticipation, acting outside the group process, and lack of consensus about its decisions were ignored (p. 87). Remarkable, too, are the Tower Commission's criticisms of the NSC, such as the pathological reliance on secrecy, lack of confrontation of the group leader (President Reagan), poor conflict management, lack of process management (President Reagan's uninformed and inactive stance, lack of boundary management by Donald Regan (the President's Chief of Staff), lack of reality testing, and acting out by individual members of the NSC. These critical quotes could well have been those of the supervisor of a therapy group! Ettin concludes that the Iran-Contra affair might not have gotten out of hand if group process and organizational dynamics had been anticipated, predicted, and corrected. It seems to this reviewer that Ettin's lucid delineation of this tragic national event is a mandate for future inclusion of group-trained participant observers in governmental bodies. Part HI: Countries as Groups
Andreas von Wallenberg Pachaly writes of "The German Marriage: Intrapsychic, Interpersonal and International Dimensions." He views the reunification of Germany as part of "an evolutionary change in the dynamics of nations" (p. 189). Three different group dynamic trends, he says, seem to have governed the history of the last century in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The first is the tendency to "oneness," in which formerly split-off parts of human existence are brought into integration. The second group dynamic has been to defensively ; ganize so as to ward off real or imagined
178
Book Re~ew
threats to individual or national identity by dehumanizing others and by making whole groups into scapegoats to be humiliated or destroyed. The third tendency has been to "seek emotional security in the outside world by colluding with powerful and repressive societal structures in order to protect one's fragile sense of self' (p. 200). Wallenberg accounts for these tendencies as due to a special kind of splitting. He views the "primitive ego" as one in which differentiation does not exist between inside and outside, self and other, and as one in which rational principles are not prominent. Being thus vulnerable, this primitive ego is ready to accept any structure which will protect it. Thus, destructive leaders and their henchmen may replace the protecting father and mother in the psyche, offering security to the part of the self subject to existential anxiety. When this is so, revolution often replaces one dictatorial regime for a previous one, because the dictatorial regime "has become internalized even by the oppressed . . . . A group dynamic prevails that stabilizes society by perpetuating fiend-friend dichotomies and black-and-white thinking . . . . By a process of psychic inheritance, which transposes feelings of hurt, pain, revenge and shame over the generations, these feelings have also been instilled into their children" (pp. 204205). This leads to "structural violence" in which whole populations are unwittingly pressed into a preformed ideological framework within which the personal values of individuals are disregarded. Only when groups are allowed to organize whose structure provides a network of human relationships not dependent on conformity with the powers-that-be can personal feelings be shared and given weight in the functioning of these groups. Only thus can there be the breakthrough to new perceptions and rational actions based on them. In this way, repression and denial may be made less potent, and the primitive ego seeking undifferentiated security be helped to be aware of the existential needs and fears of others, being neither alienated from itself nor projecting its own doubts and fears on the outside world in the process. Part IV: Intergroup Conflict and Conflict Resolution
Mulvihill, Ross, and Schermer, in "Psycho-Cultural Interpretations of Ethnic Conflict in Northern Ireland: Family and Group Systems Contributions," attempt an historical background for this conflict, critically assess the limitations inherent in explanations of it, and suggest a "psychocultural" explanation which may promote a better grasp of it. They note that there is a wide discrepancy between the avowed moderate realistic differences between the Protestants and the Catholics, and the bitterly intense underlying emotional attitudes expressed by each. They account for this discrepancy on the basis of long-harbored grievances, "threats to identity and primordial fears
Book Review
1'79
of extinction" (p. 256). Their psychocultural explanation of these concerns lies in the in-group images held by each group, the Catholics seeing themselves as an oppressed minority in Northern Ireland and as equally oppressed by British colonialism. The Protestants feel isolated in the entirety of Ireland. Progress would require that both must alter their polarized images of each other. Additionally, there has been a paradoxical splitting process at work, in which overt violence occurs, even as there is everyday interaction between the two groups. This dichotomy breeds chronic anxiety, which begins with imagined exaggerated threats, gains momentum if not dealt with, and may be transmitted from generation to generation (as was described in Wallenberg's article). The authors invoke a family systems model (Bowen) to describe how they see resolution of this conflict coming about. They focus on Great Britain's efforts to solve the problem, but point out its failure as a third party to the effort at resolution, because it did not fulfill the family systems role of regulating itself, by staying out of the emotional arena. Instead, it preempted what should have been the two contestants' efforts to take on greater responsibility and self-regulation. The authors' prescription is that "help is needed to facilitate effective communication as a first step to problem-solving, with a subsequent re-arrangement of relationships between the disputants in which each is enabled to recognize legitimate needs of the other, with the aid of a third party." Their view seems to have been validated since the article was written. It may have been difficult for the editors to do so, because of the disparate nature of the chapters, or because some of the articles were not originally written specifically for this volume, but it seems to this reviewer-given the task the editors set for themselves in presenting so unique a treat i s e - t h a t they might have sought to summarize the major dynamics from these 18 chapters, and then compare how usefully and valuably the group dynamics had been applied to political situations. Despite this lack, and some variation in the acumen of the various authors, this is a valiant and often most informative effort to expand group theory beyond the confines of the therapy room.
REFERENCE Kosseff, J. W. (1991). Infant and mother and the mother group. In S. Tuttman, (Ed.), Psychoanalytic group theory and therapy, Madison, C-T: International Universities Press.
Jerome W. Kosseff 127 East 69th St. Suite 1E New York, New York 10021
