The outsider phenomenon and the need to belong

The outsider phenomenon is an existential pathology interrelated with the need to belong. It is a group related experience that has developmental foundations. W. R. D. Fairbairn (1952), was one of the first psychoanalysts who systematically challenged Freudian theory, and located the human experience within social relationships. Fairbairn (1935) suggested that the family is the first social group, leading to affiliations with important groups external to the family. This paper extrapolates from Fairbairn's ideas about schizoid character, which is an interpersonal experience, to group experiences in a family and with identity groups. Fairbairn's notions about the unavoidable activation of schizoid processes may help us understand what makes the outsider experience so pervasive.