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Chapter Two Part Two – Methodology 48
Refining the theoretical and philosophical orientation of the study 48
Psychoanalysis 52
Group Analysis 57
Table 2(ii).1 Hopper’s reasons why groups are helpful to difficult patients 60
Ethnography 61
Inter-weavings between psychoanalysis and ethnography 64
Group-Analytic Ethnography 67
Some concepts that are part of the philosophical underpinnings 71
Matte-Blanco’s Strata 71
A return to Foulkes’ Levels 74
Bi-Logical Depth 74
Sticky Moments 75
Linking Matte-Blanco’s work with that of Foulkes 75
How are the students perceived by the staff, (and indeed by each other,
and vice-versa), as individuals, as a group of individuals
or of sub-groups of individuals, or as a group as a whole? 77
The importance of good internal objects in stressful situations
(Under fire) 78
A group analytic approach to understanding learning 79
Conclusion to consideration of the theoretical and philosophical framework 80
Theoretical and philosophical framing of the study 81
An heuristic for considering social situations 85
Sampling, analysis and interpretation 86
Chapter Three – Research methods and their use 88
Introduction 88
Some background to the study - how ethics committee approval
and participant consent were established 89
Research methods – the contribution of Alex Stewart’s model 92
Table 3.1 Stewart’s characteristics of an ethnographic study 93
The application of Post-Foulkesian Group-Analytic Ethnography 95
The design of the study 95
The data 96
Transformation of the data 98
The choice and treatment of ‘Sticky Moments’ for synchronic analysis 99
Table 3.2 Methods of group-analytic ethnographic data analysis 101
The extraction of patterns of content or themes 101
Psychoanalytic free-association to elements of the data
(leading to metonymy and metaphor) 102
The noting of countertransference 103
The noting of transference 103
The induction of figurations 104
The articulation of chains of interaction,
and their possible meanings, through translation 104
An heuristic for considering interaction 104
Procedure 105
Example 3.1 - An example for the purpose of illustration 106
Description of the example 106
Analysis and interpretation 107
Summary and conclusion – challenges and responses 108
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