Group Analytic Contexts, Issue 77, September 2017

20 Group-Analytic Society International - Contexts
Little did we realise what these two groups would come to
represent over the three days. Julie Howley asked the question
afterwards is this, “a group or not a group”?
Thoughts Beforehand
From Dale Godby, Dallas, USA: Biker
So why bike and hike the wall? For the Americans who organized the
ride, the Berlin Wall resonated deeply in the well of the American
Social Unconscious. It was 22 months after its erection on August 13,
1961 that American president, John F. Kennedy, speaking in Berlin
on June 26, 1963 said, “Ich bin ein Berliner”. On June 12, 1987,
American President Ronald Reagan, at the site of the Brandenburg
Gate said, “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down
this wall!” And more recently, during his election campaign, Donald
Trump, said, “I will build a great wall -- and nobody builds walls better
than me, believe me --and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will
build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make
Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words".
But when the Americans
mentioned they were designing T-
Shirts for the bike and hike trip, we
discovered the difference between
the social unconscious that exists
between nations. The Americans
were used to having a T-Shirt for
events like the hike and bike tour
and were surprised when they began
receiving hesitant responses about not wanting
to all wear the shirts and concerns about
looking like team. This all began to make
sense when we started to learn about how the
post WWII Germans think about uniforms.
We were off to a good start as our dialogue
began to unfold. Prior to our ride an article,
‘Berlin Walls’, written by Winnicott in 1969
and published after his death in 1986 came to
light. He argues for the importance of ‘Berlin
Walls. He sees the developmental need for
walls within the individual to keep the good and bad forces apart; until
the time when healthy development allows for their integration. He
sees the wall as a dividing line, “which at its worst postpones conflict