From Crowd Psychology To The Dynamics Of Large Groups

From Crowd Psychology to the Dynamics of Large Groups offers transdisciplinary research on the history of the study of social formations, ranging from nineteenth-century crowd psychology in France and twentieth-century Freudian mass psychology, including the developments in critical theory, to the study of the psychodynamics of contemporary large groups. Carla Penna presents a unique combination of sociology, psychoanalysis, and group analysis in the study of social formations. This book revisits the epistemological basis of group analysis by introducing and discussing its historical path, especially in connection with the study of large groups and investigations of the social unconscious in persons, groups, and societies. It also explores early work on group relations and contemporary research on the basic-assumption group in England, particularly Hopper’s theory of Incohesion as a fourth basic assumption. From Crowd Psychology to the Dynamics of Large Groups enables the reader to map out the field of the unconscious life of crowds illuminating the darkness of twenty-first century collective movements. The reflections in this book present new perspectives for psychologists, psychoanalysts, group analysts, sociologists, and historians to investigate the psychodynamics of contemporary crowds, masses, and social systems.

In 'The Behavior of Crowds,' Everett Dean Martin delves into the intricate dynamics of crowd psychology and the susceptibility of the masses to propaganda, particularly in the context of the rapidly evolving technological landscape of the modern era. His work is a piercing examination of how information, or the lack thereof, can be wielded to shape public opinion and behavior. The book is distinguished by its probing analysis, eloquent style, and the ability to place its insights within the broader literary tradition of social critique, reminding readers of the works of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter, while also anticipating later twentieth-century thinkers like Eric Hoffer. Everett Dean Martin, with his background as a minister, journalist, and social psychologist, brings to bear a unique interdisciplinary approach in understanding the mechanisms of groupthink and mass influence. His advocacy for adult education reflects his concern for an informed citizenry and underpins this seminal work. The observations in 'The Behavior of Crowds' are a direct outcome of his extensive career spent at the intersection of education, social philosophy, and public discourse. 'The Behavior of Crowds' is a must-read for students of social psychology, historians of the early twentieth century, and anyone interested in the intersection of technology, media, and society. Martin's work provides both a timeless exploration of human behavior in collective settings and a poignant commentary relevant to contemporary discussions on the power of influence, media literacy, and the role of education in developing critical thinking skills.

This edition brings to you Le Bon's two most celebrated works, "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind" and "The Psychology of Revolution", which made a breakthrough in what is now known as crowd psychology. Le Bon theorised about a new entity, "psychological crowd", which emerges from incorporating the assembled population not only forms a new body but also creates a collective "unconsciousness". As a group of people gather together and coalesces to form a crowd, there is a "magnetic influence given out by the crowd" that transmutes every individual's behaviour until it becomes governed by the "group mind". Gustave Le Bon was a French polymath whose areas of interest included anthropology, psychology, sociology, medicine, invention, and physics. Ignored or maligned by sections of the French academic and scientific establishment during his life due to his politically conservative and reactionary views, Le Bon was critical of democracy and socialism. Le Bon's works were influential to such disparate figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Benito Mussolini, Sigmund Freud and José Ortega y Gasset, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.

In this fascinating book, New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea: Large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant—better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future. With boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, behavioral economics, artificial intelligence, military history, and politics to show how this simple idea offers important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, run our companies, and think about our world.

Gustave Le Bon - The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind Gustave Le Bon predicted already in 1895 the 20th century's mass phenomenona in his epochal work The Crowd: A study of the popular mind. He researched the dynamics of large groups of people and how their behaviour patterns were differing from the individual's behaviour. He showed how easily crowds could be manipulated and how weak their restistance against lies and manipulation was. The Crowd: A study of the popular mind not only explains the terrifying mechanics of fascist movements, to this day it gives valuable tools to people in management and marketing, since Gustave Le Bon's theories also perfectly explain people's consumer behaviours. related topics: crowd psychology, psychology of the masses, crowd control, crowd management

The Tripartite Matrix in the Developing Theory and Expanding Practice of Group Analysis explores the social unconscious in persons, groups and societies in terms of the "un-acknowledged" restraints and constraints of our social and cultural groupings. In this context, Earl Hopper and an international team of contributors elucidate the theory and concept of the tripartite matrix as a tool for the deeper understanding of the human condition and for clinical work in various settings. They consider topics ranging from envy to intersectionality, and from addiction to the inability to mourn. The Tripartite Matrix in the Developing Theory and Expanding Practice of Group Analysis will be of great interest to group analysts, psychoanalytical group therapists, psychoanalysts and psycho-dramatists, as well as to social scientists more generally. Its extensive bibliography will be of particular value to students.

This book examines tolerance as a concept under crisis, exploring its origin and functions, and how it can be at risk of replacement by moral intolerance or retributive justice in turbulent societies. Tolerance - A Concept in Crisis considers the contributions that can be made to understanding and elaborating tolerance, and its counterpart intolerance, by psychoanalysis and group analysis. The contributors, representing a range of countries, backgrounds, and specialisms, consider five key themes: conceptual and emotional challenges, tolerance and psychoanalysis, tolerance and group analysis, tolerance and the socio-political, and tolerance and intolerance in organizations and institutes. The project suggests that tolerance is an outcome of developmental processes (emotional, intrapsychic, intersubjective, and social) to agree and contain disagreement as part of mutual belonging. It also considers how it might be taken too far. The concept of tolerance is examined through its valid contributions to diversity and reduction of discrimination, promoting reflexive scepticism, critical pluralism, and durable forgiveness. Tolerance - A Concept in Crisis will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and group analysts facing issues of conflict and its resolutions, as well as other professionals who are seeking new perspectives on tolerance.

Group Analysis outlines how clinical group analysis can re-establish itself as a leading paradigm for group psychotherapy. Sigmund Karterud explains how the focus of group analysis and its applications can be expanded by stronger emphasis on the philosophy and psychology of the self. The book is divided into four parts, with part one reconsidering the historical roots of group analysis through its founder S. H. Foulkes and part two demonstrating how the fields of evolution, primary emotions, attachment, mentalizing, personality theory and personality disorders can be integrated with group analysis. Part three develops a philosophy of the self that includes a group self which accounts for the we-ness of groups, and part four illustrates how these concepts can inform the practice of group analysis through a series of clinical vignettes addressing the major challenges which face the clinician. Group Analysis: A Modern Synthesis will be essential reading for all group psychotherapists in practice and in training. It will also appeal to students of group analytic psychotherapy.