War: A Transactional Group Analysis

Abstract

This article offers a brief review of Berne’s application of group theory to the topic of war. Stimulated by the responses of governments and the governed to the coronavirus pandemic (from 2020) and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia (in 2022), the author considers how this specific aspect of Bernean group theory may be used to understand these and other examples of violations of group structure. The article and its analysis are first positioned as a transactional analysis contribution to social psychology. Following this, the article provides a review of the TA literature on war and a brief discussion of group structure and leadership; highlights the six ways Berne identified by which a group’s existence can be terminated; and finally, suggests a certain sequence to these processes.