Syphilis, Celibacy and Witch Hunts

The Shock of the New: A Psycho‐dynamic Extension of Social Representational Theory

“…While social identity theory provides an inroad into the social counterpart of splitting, it emphasises the process of inter-group affiliation, rather than the contmb of the representations which may form at a time of crisis. I will draw on common threads in the work of psycho-dynamically orientated cultural theorists (Andreski, 1989;Gilman, 1985Gilman, , 1988Sherwood, 1980) which complement the social representational stance, to account for the socio-historical factors which play a part in the individual's response to threat.…”

“…Pre-existing representations are particularly important in terms of who and what is chosen as the representative of the 'bad other', onto whom anxiety-provoking feelings can be projected. Each social group had various 'repositories' (Sherwood, 1980) or 'defenceless groups' (Gilman, 1988;Andreski, 1989) as potential targets for their projection. Certain groups have repeatedly represented the 'bad other' within certain societies: "Every social group has a set vocabulary of images for this externalized Other.…”