Rebellion is a strategy of social action: to overthrow the group’s status quo or to adamantly oppose its revision. Rebellion occurs when other avenues of influence seem futile or unattractive–a judgment that depends on the group’s genuine receptivity to discussion and change, and equally, on the state of mind of the rebel. There are different pathways of rebellion: defiance, secession/exile, anarchy, or revolution. Although rebellion represents an individual’s mental attitude toward a group, it is useful to think of group process and rebellion as an attempt to move the group in a different direction. Similar to other group members, the therapist has rebellious feelings and thoughts, and may take on the multiple roles of defiant instigator, exiled outcast, anarchist, and revolutionary.
