Sociatry, psychodrama, and social work: Moreno’s mysticism and social justice tradition

ABSTRACT

The philosophy and methods of Jacob Moreno’s sociatry offer social workers valuable tools for upholding the core values of the social work profession. Moreno’s philosophy promotes mysticism and social justice while affirming the dignity and worth of each human being. Although Moreno’s methods, including sociometry, psychodrama, and group therapy, emerged from his existential philosophy, they have become largely dissociated from each other. Moreno likened this disconnection to removing a child from its parents. The schism between his philosophy and methods is prominent not only in the social work field but also in the psychodrama community itself. This paper aims to contribute to the reunification of the body of Moreno’s work while demonstrating its relevance to social group work. The methods of sociatry are inherently strengths-based and humanistic approaches which align with the nondeliberative social work tradition and offer a bridge between clinical and macro practice. These versatile action-based methods are uniquely positioned to support anti-oppressive work with individuals, groups, and communities.

KEYWORDS:

• Sociatry
• psychodrama
• sociometry
• group therapy
• spirituality

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank and recognize Katharine Miller Walsh for the editing support she provided on this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.