On "Analytic Groups in Therapeutic Communities" by Raymond Blake, XIV/3, pp. 212-216

Therapeutic communities and group analysis

“…While much has been written separately about both TCs and GA, little has been written about the relationship and links between TC practice and GA, and what has been written tends to be more about what GA can contribute to TC practice, rather than vice versa, or what the relationship between the two might be (Blake, 1981; Clark, 1987; Kennard, 1982; Rawlinson, 1999; Whiteley, 1982).…”

“…Kennard (1982) and Whiteley (1982) both responded to Blake’s article. Kennard commented that “[…] it is a pity Foulkes left the field of therapeutic communities when he did, at the end of the war”, as later practitioner/authors, such as Jones and Main, tended to concentrate on the sociotherapeutic or social learning aspects of TCs, and therefore on the community meeting/large group rather than the small group.…”

“…Kennard concluded that although none of the TC pioneers placed the small group at the centre of the TC in the decades before 1982, interest and training in small group psychotherapy and GA had grown enormously among TC practitioners (Kennard, 1982, p. 49). According to Whiteley, “Small group therapy of the analytic kind shared common roots with the therapeutic community at Northfield”, but also argued that the connections went further back to Lewin’s ideas about the individual in his social field, and Burrow’s ideas about illness as a sign of social discord (Whiteley, 1982, p. 48). Again, his arguments were about the place of the small group in the TC, about the relative weight given in TCs to psychotherapy and sociotherapy, and the difference in role for the group conductor in a residential, as compared to a day, TC.…”

“…Again, his arguments were about the place of the small group in the TC, about the relative weight given in TCs to psychotherapy and sociotherapy, and the difference in role for the group conductor in a residential, as compared to a day, TC. Whiteley concluded “Undoubtedly group analysis with its awareness of social forces has given much to the TC worker”, but also stressed the need for sociological and social psychological approaches to group dynamics to be included in TC theory and practice as well (Whiteley, 1982, p. 49).…”