A Psychodynamic Group of Inner-City Adolescent Girls: Mentalizing Cultural Identities

This case study of a psychodynamic group of inner-city adolescent girls from Brooklyn, New York, examines how culture, race, and identity intersected with the theories of attachment and mentalization in the group process. The case study also examines the cultural countertransference of the group leader. The adolescent group relinquished behavior and attitudes that impeded their success in education and employment, reaching a more mature manner of relating. The phenomenon of cultural mentalization in group work can be used to understand the process of how the individual practices engagement and disengagement from the group, the group leader, and various cultural identities.