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Chapter Two Part Two – Methodology - Page 55
These notions provide the grain of detail for Bion’s earlier conception of the group. This
earlier work (1961) is based on the idea that groups can be seen to behave as a whole as
if they embody what Bion called ‘Basic Assumptions’, notably Dependency (BaD, or
Basic Assumption Dependency), Fight/Flight (BaF) and Pairing (BaP). In these modes,
it is as if the group has met solely in the service of this purpose, respectively to be
dependent, to fight or flee, or to witness two members taking on a task (akin to the
creation of the Messiah) on behalf of the group. At other times, groups can seem to
transcend these more primitive and restrictive modes of functioning, and can enter what
Bion called the ‘Work’ mode (W).
Winnicott (1953, 1971), is also a key contributor of ideas that can be applied to the
group as a holding environment and a transitional space, which are discussed further
below (see ‘Group Analysis’) in Hopper’s list of reasons why groups are helpful.
Winnicott is clearly an associate of and successor to Klein. He did not generally refer to
or address groups in his writing (other than in his concern with psychological education
of the public), focussing for much of the time on the mother/infant dyad. However,
Schlachet (1986) has applied Winnicott’s ideas directly to groups, particularly learning
groups, notably in his extension and application of Winnicott’s idea of potential space
(created by play between mother and infant) into group space (created by play between
facilitator and participants). Winnicott himself extended the notions of Freud and Klein
into his observations of mothers and infants (carried out over several decades working
as a paediatrician and a psychoanalyst), and theorised this interaction by means of a
series of concepts, including ‘me/not me’ (questions of boundary) and ‘in-between’
(questions of space) (Winnicott, 1953). Applied to the group, albeit in a form of
anthropomorphism similar to that used by Bion to treat the group as though it were a
single patient, the group can come to represent the space between me and not me,