The metabolization of primary process in groups

Groups cope with the unbridled character of primary process by assigning to certain members roles that are designed unconsciously to contain and to metabolize those parts, both of the group and individual psyches, that group members, for defensive reasons, must reject. This group process occurs isomorphically throughout the layers of social organization, from society at large, down to small therapy groups.This paper is based on a presentation at the Washington Square Institute Conference on Madness, November 1988.