What’s in a name? Foulkes, Identity and the Social Unconscious

Abstract

Immigrants to the United Kingdom are often left to forge their own identities in their new environments. This article addresses the relevance of Foulkes’s experience of migration from Nazi Germany to England to the development of his theories and ideas about groups. Issues of identity, identification and groups of belonging are discussed with reference to Foulkes’s experiences and his recently-noted tendency to idealize groups and their therapeutic value. Foulkes’s reference to the social unconscious ensured that the question of cultural identity would remain in the consciousness of future generations of group analysts. These topics have relevance to and resonance for Britain today, as the U.K. Government considers how to respond to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.