cater to their social inhibitions

20:17 May 6, 2017 

That was my feeling, given the slightly quirky use of 'to cater to', I believe the writer really was trying to make a specific point, and we need to get to the bottom of that before we can even begin to translate here.
I believe the writer is talking about creating a supportive environment in which people can let down their barriers — more than just negatively NOT creating a confrontational situation, the leader needs to positively create an atmosphere that will draw people out and enable them to not give in to their fears.

19:42 May 6, 2017 

Yes, on second thoughts, I think you are probably right. Daryo's answer includes SE LAISSER which makes all the difference: I missed that point. And I also found that "to cater" was used in a rather unusual way here.

19:18 May 6, 2017 

The issue here is then what is really meant by "to cater to". If it stands for something like "to make arrangements with" or to "get along with", the answers including "dominer", "victimes" or "prisonniers" are overtranslations. I saw that point, but felt that the context was more imperative.

18:04 May 6, 2017 

Personally, I don't think so; I believe that the whole premise of Daryo's and my own arguments is that this is not something that one passively 'endures', but that one actively 'allows oneself to be dominated by it' — it is the person's own participation that is crucial here, and that I believe is specifically conveyed by the use of the expression 'to cater to'.

17:32 May 6, 2017 

I agree with you, but could we not shorten (simplify) your phrase by saying "subir" instead of "se laisser dominer par" ans without straying away from the initial sense of the text?