The German social unconscious: second generation perpetrator symptoms in organisations and groups*

The Social Unconscious in Action: Linking Theory to Group Work with Young Adults

“…However, there are also examples of participant observation, which suggest that the social unconscious can also be understood from within if supported by a psychoanalytically informed and mature organizational setting (e.g. Even-Tzur, 2016; Wilke, 2016).…”

“…This subject has been addressed by Even-Tzur (2016) and Wilke (2016) in two separate articles, which address the collective repression of perpetrator trauma and the return of the repressed through social symptoms and enactments. It is argued that failure to engage with perpetrator trauma hinders processes of working through and mourning and undermines the potential for just and responsible societies.…”

“…Even-Tzur (2016) argues that psychoanalysis and history as a discipline have a particular therapeutic role to play in facilitating reflective and constructive encounters with the past. Wilke (2016) and Raufman and Weinberg (2014) provide examples of enactments of transgenerational trauma and social defences relating to memories of the Holocaust, and how these processes could be contained and understood in educational settings. This highlights the reparative potential of mature, self-reflective institutions in enabling working through and healing on a wider social level beyond the consulting room.…”

“…Rosie’s clothing suggests that it is non-verbally held in the group matrix and this allows me to build a bridge to the previous week and address imbalanced communication and power in the group (Dalal, 2001). This enables Steven to touch on issues relating to the transgenerational transmission of trauma from his father as a victim of racism and from his grandfather as a perpetrator (Volkan, 2001; Wilke, 2016). He talks about his sense of isolation, identity confusion, and internalized racism, which is congruent with the group-analytic notion that the psyche develops through the internalization of social forces (Dalal, 2001; Foulkes, 1971; Hopper, 1996).…”

Promoting Awareness about Psychological Consequences of Living in a Community Oppressed by the Mafia: A Group-Analytic Intervention

“…Recent research developments have focused on the analysis of the social unconscious in relation to social trauma and transgenerational enactments, as in the case of the Holocaustus (Wilke, 2016 ), the Palestinian and Israeli conflict (Doron, 2014 ; Even-Tzur, 2016 ), and to social inequalities linked to cultural hierarchies of sexism, racism, classism (Layton, 2007 ; Geyer, 2017 ).…”