Ideology, Conflict, and Leadership in Groups and Organizations

Abstract

In this book, the author integrates current knowledge of the psychodynamics of individuals, groups, and organizations into a new theoretical framework. The author shows how the interplay of libidinal and aggressive impulses enacted within the dynamic unconscious of the individual also occurs at the level of groups and social organizations. He sheds light on the turbulent nature of human interactions in groups, suggests how this understanding may help resolve conflicts at the group and institutional levels, and provides a model for achieving effective institutional change. This integrative frame is applied to the analysis of the regressive processes in groups, the nature of institutional leadership, and the conditions of rational functioning that may protect the organization from the most dangerous consequences of regressive group processes. To illustrate the therapeutic uses of the model, the author considers its application to group therapy and the therapeutic community; to illustrate its consultative potential, the author includes a section on problems in psychoanalytic organizations. The theoretical framework is extended to the social sciences, proposing contributions to the psychology of ideology formation, bureaucracy, conventionality, and the political process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: jacket)