Paradoxes of Group Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics

Understanding Paradoxical Processes: Negation, Self–Reference, and Double Bind

In the last chapter, we reviewed the presence of paradox in the work of twentieth-century social theory in the areas of psychotherapy and small-group research. It was evident that many theoreticians and practitioners understood the essential nature of the paradoxical dynamic and its force in individual and collective life. People who studied and worked with individuals and groups found them struggling to make sense out of tensions and conflicts that were experienced as contradictory. These researchers also noticed that the contradictions were connected somehow, usually ...