Social Defences or a Crippled Organisation?

1. Social Defences or a Crippled Organisation? Overcoming Organisational Inhibitions

2. What’s he going to say………. • Background & Context • Theories • The Hypothesis • New Disability Paradigm and Service Delivery Environment Considerations • How do we ensure the appropriate social defences are in place within this new environment? • ….the answer to the question is…….

4. Definitions • Psychoanalytical approaches • Group Dynamics • Group as a whole approach • the primary task of any group is what it must do to survive • the group uses its members in the service of its primary task • the behaviour of any member at any moment is the expression of its own needs, history and behaviour patterns and that of the groups (ie the individuals and the whole groups) • whatever the group is doing or talking about, the group is always talking about itself, reflecting itself • understanding the process of the group provides group members with the awareness and ability to make choices about their identity and function in the group setting.

5. Theories Bion’s unconscious processes in groups theory • the work group has a level of functioning at which members consciously pursue an agreed-upon objective and work towards the completion of the task. • the basic assumption group is focused inwardly and is a more primitive reality. It is dysfunctional in terms of the primary task and ineffective, it is comprised of unconscious wishes, fears, defences and projections.

6. Basic assumption ‘Dependency’: the group attains security and protection from one individual, the leader, designated or assumed.

7. Basic assumption ‘Fight/Flight’: the group perceives it’s survival is threatened and depends upon either an aggressive, scapegoating, attacking response that avoids the task at hand; or fleeing from the task by avoiding the primary task, withdrawing, going off on tangents and moving away from the here and now.

8. Basic assumption ‘Pairing’: includes bonding between 2 individuals, expressing warmth and affection leading to a closeness to such an extent that the other members become inactive.

9. Social Defence Theory • Isabel Menzies research study of nurses within a hospital setting (1960s) • Defence against high levels of anxiety and stress • Splitting, projection and introjection • Minimize anxiety and stress through tasks and rituals that distracts and deflects as a defence for individuals

10. Image by Bill Thystrup

11. The Hypothesis The broad hypothesis is that disability support organisations have developed social defences to contain the anxieties arising out of the “psychotic fear” of annihilation and death experienced by staff working in disability support services.

12. Some examples • inappropriate black humour • smoking and drinking as social activities • a ‘them and us’ attitude that exists between work teams and management and other teams, departments • language and over use of acronyms and jargon • technical descriptions of natural occurrences, de-humanising people • relationships – appropriateness, boundaries and judgments • risk aversion – OH&S issues used as reasons not to do things • sticking to exact and literal interpretations of policies and procedures, insisting on very detailed and microscopic/managed processes

13. New Disability Paradigm and Service Delivery Environment Considerations • Individual focus and person centred approaches • Rights based • Outcomes • Inclusive communities • Higher stakeholder expectations and accountability • Changing and unknown future • Shift in the balance of power • Generalization of disability support

14. How do we ensure the appropriate social defences are in place within this new environment? • Be open to the dynamics occurring and understanding the concepts and implications • Make it more known and understood • Empower staff and teams to recognise how they feel and act • New organisational and service structures and practices • Create social spaces and supportive stable frameworks • Allocate appropriate resources

15. Conclusion….the answer is…… That disability support organisations are not crippled, they perform a valuable and essential service and are required to play a role in the new generation of person centered individualised support services, however they require holistic consideration and a sophisticated systems approach that includes the necessary processes, resources, research and evidence based practices to ensure effective and sustainable community benefit.

16. References • Krantz, J. and Gilmore, N. (1989) The Splitting of Leadership and Management as a Social Defense. Yale School of Organization and Management New Haven, CT and The Wharton Center for Applied Research Philadelphia, PA. • Krantz, J. Anxiety & the New Order. • Menzies, I. (1975) A case-study in the functioning of social systems as a defense against anxiety in Colman & Bexton (eds.) Group relations reader Washington: Rice Institute. • Morgan, G. (1997) Images of Organization. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. • Stokes, J. The Unconscious at Work in Groups and Teams. Contributions from the work of Wilfred Bion.