Analysis with people from neglected populations: The social uncanny

Due to socioeconomic factors, patients undergoing analysis do not often come from neglected populations. The concept of the “social uncanny,” which I will try to define, is a sense of unease that may occur in analyses in which neglect is a dominant component powering the patient’s self. This unease arises when the patient reencounters mirroring and idealization needs that went unmet because the individual belongs to an underserved population, needs that were therefore cast off and stored beyond the vertical barrier so that the deprivation could be tolerated. In this kind of “social-uncanny” dynamics, the alien-yet-familiar material that returns was cast off beyond the vertical split and kept distinct and separate from the adapting self. Given an empathic environment, the unease in some cases arises, and the split-off material that holds back the self awakens, becoming analytic material that can be worked-through in analysis and awaken frozen areas of the self. The split-off material becomes present because it is met empathically. The concept of “the social uncanny” is meant to help identify this dynamic while serving as a selfobject for analysts treating a person for whom social injustice forms a crucial part of the tragic nature of their lives.