Normality in Analytical Psychology

• Main Author: Steve Myers
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2013-11-01
• Series: Behavioral Sciences
• Subjects: Jung; analytical psychology; normality; individuation; collectivity; Foucault; Freud
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/3/4/647

Although C.G. Jung’s interest in normality wavered throughout his career, it was one of the areas he identified in later life as worthy of further research. He began his career using a definition of normality which would have been the target of Foucault’s criticism, had Foucault chosen to review Jung’s work. However, Jung then evolved his thinking to a standpoint that was more aligned to Foucault’s own. Thereafter, the post Jungian concept of normality has remained relatively undeveloped by comparison with psychoanalysis and mainstream psychology. Jung’s disjecta membra on the subject suggest that, in contemporary analytical psychology, too much focus is placed on the process of individuation to the neglect of applications that consider collective processes. Also, there is potential for useful research and development into the nature of conflict between individuals and societies, and how normal people typically develop in relation to the spectrum between individuation and collectivity.