The second part of my framework for explaining the ‘not me – others’ phenomenon is presented in this chapter. A social representational rubric is chosen because it is able, epistemologically, to incorporate the socio-cultural and psycho-dynamic layers of the response to crises. In addition, it is centrally concerned with how individuals represent their worlds. It allows for exploration of how group, cultural and societal forces become sedimented in the psyche of the individual. Although the approach which I propose extends existing social representations theory, the theory already contains a highly valuable set of concepts pertaining to risks. They are explored and broadened in this chapter.

In her book about Picasso, Gilot (1965) states that painting is a mediator between the strange, hostile world and ourselves. It is a way of seizing power over the universe, by giving form to our terrors and desires. She draws an analogy between painting and the African mask. Both play a role in mediating between people and the hostile forces which surround them. Social representations play a similar role in contemporary Western societies. Humankind has a dread of powers that it cannot subdue and compensates for this impotence imaginatively, representing that which is encountered in a comforting way. What are the workings of the comforting representations of threatening social objects?

What are social representations?

The field of social representations is concerned with the explanations that people give for phenomena which they encounter in the social world.