Group Analysis Throughout the Life Cycle: Foulkes Revisited From A Group Attachment And Developmental Perspective

By Arturo Ezquerro and Maria Canete

Our need for life affirming human connectedness and attachment to others is at the heart of this book. As the authors progress through each of the six developmental stages we traverse in life, they highlight the importance of our essential inter-connectedness as a co-creative, polyvalent, emergent process as we progress through our lives. The transactions, interactions, social links, ties, dialogues and conversations with others is the stuff of life, the essence of life itself. The familial, social and professional groups that we interact and attach ourselves to locate us in our lives and the cultural worlds we occupy. A person cannot be understood in their development without seeing how that person is enmeshed within multiple social and cultural contexts. Throughout the developmental stages of the life cycle the importance of human connectedness and community is paramount. This theme is comprehensively highlighted and developed throughout this book. The authors provide us with a meticulously researched and detailed narrative drawing on group analytic and attachment literature. Group analysis and attachment theory are integrated in developmental terms.The use of anthropological, cultural, organisational, clinical and psychosocial studies also enhances the authors presentation of a unique developmental perspective on the importance of group and community attachment as we develop from infancy to old age. The authors are at pains to point out, that ‘In group analysis, there has been a lack of thinking, training and, in the practice of group analysts, past and present, a concerning absence of life-span perspectives in psychosocial and peer group development’ They argue that a comprehensive group analytic theory cannot be complete without becoming sufficiently conversant with a life-span perspective of human development.

Hopefully, this book will inspire the group analytic community to respond to this admonition. In terms of clinical work, a deep understanding of the psychosocial, peer and relational dynamics which operate within each developmental stage is key to finding appropriate interventions and optimising therapeutic outcomes. Each developmental stage has a common theme but each has its own unique parameters and concerns to explore. All point to the importance for psychosocial development being intrinsically linked to human connectedness and community through group interaction. We develop a core sense of ourselves through our attachment to the various cultural, social and professional groups in our progress through the developmental stages. We develop a meaningful sense of belonging at each life stage, through family and social interaction in childhood, peer groups in adolescence and work and professional groups as adults. All contribute to our growth and development. When people do not make meaningful connections and attachments to groups they become more vulnerable to mental health problems. Psychopathology is an expression of difficulties, disruption, disturbance and rupture in interpersonal relationships. Understanding what has occurred or is occurring with people at each developmental stage adds another helpful perspective as to how we may work with them individually and in groups.

The six developmental stages outlined in the book are comprehensively explored in terms of developmental theory, qualitative research and examples from clinical practice. However, the authors draw attention to two particular developmental stages that are often overlooked or unacknowledged. These are young adulthood and late middle age. Both can have profound consequences for psychosocial development and it is important that we recognise and acknowledge the particular challenges each brings. The former is about emerging adults starting careers and families and the latter is about contemplating retirement and the transition into old age and all that that entails. Both stages involve a reworking of individual and group identity and attachment networks through difficult transitional phases, which are often not given proper and appropriate care and attention. As I read through the book, I was reminded of my own experiences working in groups with adolescents and older people. This can be demanding but rewarding work, and as the authors suggest, particularly with adolescents, requires a different type of attention and boundary management than a typical adult group. I also found working with older people to be a very creative and absorbing experience. If you image such work would be uninteresting or rather mundane, think again. My experience of older adult work was surprisingly energetic, humorous and entertaining. It was a great learning experience.

This book is a required wake up call for us to recognise and acknowledge that a developmental perspective has much to offer in making us think about the contextual differences involved in a particular life stage and how we may tailor our work to take those into account. This applies not just to clinical group work but can also help us understand what an individual going through a particular life stage may be facing as they negotiate their way through it.

The authors are in the process of putting together a second volume and, as they are committed to diversity, inclusiveness and openness to different viewpoints and perspectives, it would be of great interest to hear their views on the impact of racial, class and economic inequalities for the developmental stages. Similarly if you are growing up in a war devastated environment or in a culture that is openly hostile to certain groups, then traversing any given developmental stage will be very different for those individuals and groups.They may share common bonds and affiliations but these are forged in highly anxiety provoking and persecutory contexts, which are traumatising and debilitating. We cannot afford to ignore the political and cultural structures in which people navigate their life stages and the consequences of oppression and inequality upon them.

This accessible book supports the growing body of evidence that human beings and their well-being and effectiveness are developmentally, socially formed and located in an emergent co-creative process throughout the life-span. It counters the hegemony of individualistic neo-liberal ideologies which currently hold sway in Western cultures, where competition is favoured over co-operation and the individual supersedes the social. I hope it will be widely read.