Lavie, Joshua (2007): 'Open People', 'Homo Clausus' and the
'5th Basic Assumption': Bridging Concepts between Foulkes's and Bion's
Traditions
Funzione Gamma, scientific telematic Journal 2007, Università
"La Sapienza" register to Tribunale civile di Roma
In this article I tried to bridge the split between the Foulkesian and
the Bionian traditions, hence overcoming the outworn dispute between these
two theories and practices.
The main hypothesis in this article is that W.R. Bion and S.H. Foulkes
tried to achieve the same goal, albeit coming from a different, yet complementary,
direction. The metaphor which is being used describes Bion and Foulkes
as two miners digging a tunnel under a river, each of them starting from
the opposite bank. Bion and his followers tried to overcome the pathologies
of groups which take control over individuals and abolish their individuality
(Basic Assumption Groups), while Foulkes and his followers tried to overcome
the pathologies of Individuals devoid of relational and communal existence
('Closed People'; 'We-less-I's').
In order to overcome the split between these two traditions I discuss and develop Gordon Lawrence's (1996) discovery of 'Me-ness' , the 5th Basic Assumption in the Bionian/Tavistockian tradition regarding the psychic condition of individuals in groups, and Norbert Elias's (1939) social/psychological theory of 'Homo Clausus'('Closed Man'), the fundamental basic assumption in the Foulksian Group-Analytic tradition regarding the social/psychological condition of individuals (and patients) in groups of modern societies.
Key words: Homo-Clausus; We-less-I's; Me-ness; Isolated-Individuals; Relational-Individuals; Work-Group; Common-Matrix.
Joshua Lavie, M .A. is a clinical psychologist and group analyst heading the Forum Institute for Psychotherapy - www.psyforum.org - in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He is a founder member of the Israeli Institute of Group Analysis and teaches there, and co-founder and past editor of 'Mikbatz'-The Israeli Journal of Group Psychotherapy. He is currently working on his doctoral dissertation in the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas in Tel-Aviv University.
Joshua Lavie is member of the Israeli EFPP Group Section.
E-mails: laviej@netvision.net.il ; psyforum@netvision.net.il
Journal address: http://www.funzionegamma.edu/inglese/number19/cover.asp
Article address: http://www.funzionegamma.edu/inglese/number19/lavie.asp
