Monsters are curious cultural products, at once indicative of human fears but equally characteristic of how humans envisage and construct preferred identities at a group level. Drawing on contemporary social and `monster theory', the article argues that the study of `the monstrous' is a fertile one for group analysts. Significantly, the late 19th century origins of group theory were linked to fears about monstrous forces at work in society, whilst contemporary `human monsters' continue to preoccupy the imagination.
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