The Pseudomutual Small Group or Institution

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Abstract
A mode for defense of the status quo in a small group or institution is described in this paper: namely, the blurring of the awareness of critical boundaries, including those boundaries of external relations with other groups, internal disagreement, language distinctions, the role of the leader, and the individuality of group members. The systematic use of these defenses, previously described by Wynne, Ryckoff, Day, and Hirsch (1958) in relation to family dynamics and summarized by the term "pseudomutuality, " is described here in relation to public small groups and institutions. The findings of Wynne, et al., Laing and Cooper (1964), Laing (1967), and Orwell (1946), concerning different aspects of pseudomutuality, are reviewed. A case study of systematic use of the entire mode of pseudomutuality from an Intergroup Exercise of a Group Relations Conference is presented. Effective consultation to small groups or institutions which utilize these defenses must proceed by clarifying the critical boundaries that are being actively obscured. This clarification is more likely to be sought by a consultant who is aware of the systematic possibilities of this mode of defense and thus knows what to look for. The difficulties of the group member and the consultant are similar in that each tends either to become lost and confused or to assert exaggerated individualistic behavior in order to experience the outlines of the self that are lost in the blur of pseudomutuality.

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