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Towards a psychoanalytic concept of community (IV): The well‐functioning community
Author(s) -
Koh Eugen,
Twemlow Stuart W.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of applied psychoanalytic studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.314
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1556-9187
pISSN - 1742-3341
DOI - 10.1002/aps.1527
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , psychology , adaptability , psychic , anxiety , function (biology) , identity (music) , unconscious mind , boundary (topology) , process (computing) , therapeutic community , social psychology , psychotherapist , psychoanalysis , computer science , medicine , management , psychiatry , mathematical analysis , alternative medicine , mathematics , pathology , evolutionary biology , economics , biology , operating system , physics , acoustics
This is the fourth paper in a series proposing a psychoanalytic concept of community. The third paper of the series centered on the unconscious psychological tasks involved in creating and sustaining a community and in it achieving its reason for existence; tasks such as the formation of bonds, identity and boundary. In this fourth paper we propose that the effectiveness with which a community can carry out these tasks determines how well that community is able to function. The successful performance of the tasks is dependent on: (1) a community's capacity for psychic function, that is, its capacity to process internal tension and conflict, and both everyday and adverse experiences; (2) the effectiveness of its social defense against anxiety; and (3) its adaptability to changes and challenges in its environment.