The fifth basic assumption

Психоанализ групп

  • W. Gordon W. Gordon Lawrence
  • Alastair Bain
  • Laurence J. Gould
Keywords: basic assumption, work group, Bion, Turquet, group relations conference

Abstract

In his remarkable work on groups Bion explores mechanisms of unconscious functioning of individuals in groups and elaborates on the concept of group basic assumptions, the three possibles types of unconscious mental modes of group functioning which inhibit groups task performing and are contrasted to the work group. To the three basic assumptions – dependency, pairing and fight/flight – Pierre Turquet later adds the fourth basic assumption "OneNess".

Authors of this article are basing on their extensive experience as directors and consultants to the group relations conferences and suggest the fifth basic assumption "MeNess". The purpose of this paper is to work out and explicate basic assumption MeNess in groups, institutions, and societies following the Bion tradition.

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Author Biographies

W. Gordon W. Gordon Lawrence

W. Gordon Lawrence, MA (Aberdeen), Dr rer.oec. (Bergische) is a managing partner of Symbiont Ventures, London, UK. He is a visiting professor at Cranfield School of Management, Bedford, the University of Northumberland at Newcastle and the New Bulgarian University. He was a senior social scientist at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London in the 1970s.

Alastair Bain

Alastair Bain is a socioanalyst. He trained and worked as a consultant at the Tavistock Institute before returning to Australia in 1983. His main work interests were in organisational and social dreaming, the work of Wilfred Bion, and the exploration of wonder in socioanalytic practice.

Laurence J. Gould

Laurence J. Gould, Ph.D., is a professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at the City University of New York, the Founding Director of the Socio- Psychoanalytic Training Program in Organizational Development and Consultation at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR), the Co-director of the Program in Organizational Development and Consultation: A Psychoanalytic and Open Systems Perspective at the Sigmund Freud Center of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a member of OFEK (The Israel Association for the Study of Group and Organizational Processes), and Co-editor of Organisational and Social Dynamics: An International Journal Integrating Psychoanalytic, Systemic and Croup Relations Perspectives. He works as a psychoanalyst and organizational consultant, and is a founding member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations.

Published
2020-09-26
How to Cite
W. Gordon LawrenceW. G., BainA., & GouldL. J. (2020). The fifth basic assumption. Journal of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis, 1(2), 101-127. Retrieved from https://psychoanalysis-journal.hse.ru/article/view/11387