Taking the Group Seriously

In this critique and extension of Foulkes' work, Farhad Dalal presents a contemporary appraisal of the theory of group psychoanalysis as a whole. Although Foulkes is considered to be the founder of group analysis, Dalal argues that he was ultimately unable to take the group seriously because he did not develop a specific set of group concepts. The book describes how Foulkes was torn between the traditional individualistic framework of Freud and the less orthodox ideas of the sociologist Elias. Dalal demonstrates how this dichotomy compromised Foulkes' thesis, and offers his own post-Foulkesian interpretation of group analytic theory. Divided into six sections which trace the history of ideas behind group work, this book lays the foundation for a new group analytic theory.