WE ARE THE FORCE THAT CLEANS GERMANY - OR THE EMERGENCE OF XENOPHOBIAAND VIOLENCE AS A GROUP-PROCESS

Starting from a calamitous group process which was induced by a teen-a ge skinhead during his in-patient psychotherapy, a ''deadly dance'' is described which results in dangerous regressions in thinking, feeling and acting. The ''dance'' begins with border violations which are an expression of distress, then leads to the loss of ambivalence to certa in people, and finally results in the forming of enemies, ''dehumanizi ng'' the enemies and becoming perpetrator and victim in the use of vio lence. The gradual course of development, during which the personaliti es of the involved persons are regressively restructured, is suitable as a model to explain processes which take place on a social level and lead to xenophobia and the use of violence against foreigners.