This is the first of two articles examining the pervasiveness of religious, primitive and magical thinking in the culture of group analysis. I do so through the vehicle of the writings of Patrick de Maré. The article spells out what I believe to be the misunderstandings underlying de Maré’s rejection of causality, evidence and logical argument; calls into question the conventional view of de Maré’s writings as erudite but difficult; and examines the relationship between de Maré’s ideas and the way he takes up the role of large group conductor.
An examination of the ostensibly secular, modern and scientific fields of medicine and psychotherapy reveals the persistence of religious, primitive and magical thinking. Practitioners appear to meet the public demand for magical enactments at least half-way. In doing so, they may persist with practices despite evidence of its ineffectiveness, or with disregard for the question of its effectiveness altogether, or with imperviousness to the discouragingly weak therapeutic effects reported in scientific papers. Examples are drawn from coronary surgery, contemporary psychoanalysis and group analysis. The situation for group analysis is of special interest.
This is the second of two articles examining the pervasiveness of religious, primitive and magical thinking in the culture of group analysis. It commences with a brief outline of the standpoint from which I view supernatural ideas and the groups they animate. It then looks at the role Patrick de Maré’s writings appears to play in the culture of group analysis. It concludes with the sharp contrast between natural and supernatural approaches to understanding large group phenomena.
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