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This article discusses the status and challenges related to the basic perspective of knowledge and science in systemic practice. This article points out that some parts of the field (i.e. collaborative dialogical practice) have a preference for knowledge obtained through qualitative rather than quantitative studies. This is problematised, partly based on methodology and partly on the bias this entails in the provision of knowledge to students and systemic practitioners. The consequences of such a preference may be that systemic practitioners will lack significant knowledge, and that they are not encouraged to conduct or participate in quantitative studies. This issue highlights a stronger focus on the field's basic perspectives, as well as key political, ethical and professional policies. In response, the article presents the theories of interactive constructivism and critical realism and proposes that these become the guiding paradigm for systemic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the status and challenges related to the basic perspective of knowledge and science in systemic practice. This article points out that some parts of the field (i.e. collaborative dialogical practice) have a preference for knowledge obtained through qualitative rather than quantitative studies. This is problematised, partly based on methodology and partly on the bias this entails in the provision of knowledge to students and systemic practitioners. The consequences of such a preference may be that systemic practitioners will lack significant knowledge, and that they are not encouraged to conduct or participate in quantitative studies. This issue highlights a stronger focus on the field's basic perspectives, as well as key political, ethical and professional policies. In response, the article presents the theories of interactive constructivism and critical realism and proposes that these become the guiding paradigm for systemic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article borrows game theory to analyze the development dilemma of new rural cooperative economic organizations. A rural cooperative economic organization that is based on game theory is proposed by describing the new rural cooperative economic organization and game theory. According to the subject of interest, the basic assumptions of the model are determined, and the game theory model for rural cooperative economic organizations is constructed by combining the basic assumptions and relevant variables, and the evolutionary stabilization strategy solution process is given at the same time. The development status of new rural cooperative economic organizations in the context of information technology is evaluated using the model mentioned above. When E2 = 0.18, the probability of both parties choosing {cooperation, cooperative} strategy will increase to 82.3%. And E2 = 0.82 will reduce the probability of forming complete cooperation to 71.5% through the introduction of cost and benefit distribution, supervision and punishment mechanisms to achieve a win-win situation for the community of interest, but there is still the probability of the two sides cooperating to choose the optimal strategy will become smaller, revealing that the current development of the rural cooperative economic organization has problems and shortcomings. In order to improve the development of cooperative economic organizations in rural areas, relevant strategies are proposed.

Critical discourse analysis has become an effective multidisciplinary approach to uncovering hidden ideologies and powers along with the changing times and the increasing prevalence of various discourses in society, both in the form of information written in text and distributed in the digital world. Discourse battles are commonplace in the context of life—as a form of dialectics and freedom to convey ideas. Researchers through this article discuss basic assumptions about the basic or main principles of critical discourse analysis developed by Norman Fairclough and Ruth Wodak. The basic assumptions are that critical discourse analysis focuses on social issues, power relations are discursive, discourse shapes society and culture, discourse manages ideological works, discourse is historical, the relationship between text and society is mediated (discourse), discourse analysis is interpretive and explanatory, and discourse is a form of social action. The article also discusses three models of discourse analysis: the Sociocultural (Norman Fairclough), Socio-cognitive (Teun A. van Dijk), and Historical-Discourse (Ruth Wodak) models. Fairclough’s sociocultural model interprets text not only through the way objects are described but also through the relationships between objects that are defined. Meanwhile, Teun A. van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model emphasizes text, social cognition, and social context, forming a chain of analysis. Lastly, Ruth Wodak’s historical-discourse model puts historical aspects of discourse into his analysis.

This study aims to determine the basic assumptions of scientific philosophy in guidance and counseling. The method of this research is qualitative with a library study approach. that library or library study can be defined as a series of activities related to library data collection methods, reading and recording and processing research materials. The results of the study indicate that philosophy is a science whose material object includes and provides an understanding of the nature of man and various problems in it to achieve the welfare of life, in counseling guidance or philosophy of science requires assumptions, namely the basis of science so that it can produce various sources of other sciences through rationalism, empirical, critical and intuition. The basic assumptions of philosophy in the study of counseling guidance belong to ontology, which discusses the nature of what exists. As the basis of guidance and counseling, it means that philosophy provides a foundation for guidance and counseling to stand on.

Using the example of a sequence from an analytical group, the regression of the group to the protomentality of a basic assumption group according to Bion is shown. As the leader of this group, I was exposed to the regressed group's expectations of a narcissistic and/or paranoid leader. The task of group analysis, on the other hand, consisted in the leader and group living through the sometimes torturous processes on the way to a group in which everyone "can be different without fear" (Adorno) in the analysis process. This can be seen as the essence of democratic culture. Finally, in the face of fears of annihilation, the foundation matrix of this group sequence shows the collective regression to the commodity fiction, which is understood as the impulsive motive of the current social unconscious and in reality as the driving force behind deadly climate catastrophe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper considers the birth of a child with disability as a crisis and traumatic situation for parents. It focuses on the importance of cooperative orientation in the upbringing process, both for the child’s mental health and social adaptation and for overcoming the crisis and making post-traumatic personal growth in the parents possible. We present results of the validation of the ‘Parental Support of the Disabled Child’s Subjective Position’ questionnaire aimed at identifying the parent’s attitude to recognise and support the child’s independence and constructive initiative in various activities and provide him with the necessary assistance in his zone of proximal development. The factor structure was tested on a sample of 201 subjects (mothers of children with mental disabilities) aged 25 to 50 years (average age 39.6 years) by means of confirmatory factor analysis. As a result, a version that included one scale of 12 points was substantiated (Cronbach alpha 0.8). Converged validity was assessed on a sample of 107 subjects (mothers of children with disabilities) using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory by R. Tedeschi and L. Calhoun in the adaptation by M.Sh. Magomed-Eminova and the World Assumptions Scale by R. Janoff-Bulman in the adaptation of O.A. Kravtsova. A positive relationship was found between the indicators of the ‘Parental Support of the Disabled Child’s Subjective Position’ questionnaire and the indicators of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, as well as with the basic assumptions concerning the benevolence of the world, self worth and the ability to handle emerging problems. It was also revealed that more emotionally stable parents (with low scores on the Beck Depression Inventory) support their child's subjective position more frequently. The findings are illustrated by excerpts from structural interviews with mothers of children with disabilities.

According to Gamper (Sci Ontol Axiomathes 29:99–102, 2019), one function of science is to determine how the world is. Science, Gamper continues, rests on a set of basic assumptions, and the gap between basic assumptions and science should be filled by ontological frameworks that accommodates the modal properties of such assumptions. Different frameworks may surely suggest different modal properties. Thus, in so far as we use different basic assumptions, we can have different ontologies with different modal properties. Ontologies affect, in turn, science, which, however, has the power to falsify the ontological frameworks. The aim of this article is to show a possible trouble of Gamper's proposal, here considered as applied to the geographical debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American presidential election of 2020 ended in the early hours of Thursday 7 January 2021, when the US Congress counted and certified the ballots of the Electoral College in the aftermath of a violent, Trump-supporting mob breaching the US Capitol. The spectacle of this assault may be analyzed for years to come, yet it is immediately clear that it was the result of authoritarian impulses on the part of the defeated president. Critical Leadership Studies has concerned itself with the 'problematization' of leadership theory, often examining distributions of power both within society and within the discipline itself. This article takes its title from Brené Brown's podcast, 'Unlocking Us', torqueing it in an effort to understand these events and their causes as a group dynamic that manifested between Trump and his supporters. I also make the argument that the anxiety fomented and falsely contained by Trump has its deeper origins in what Kuhn labeled 'paradigm shifts'. To deconstruct the kind of leadership that took place in the run-up to and the aftermath of the 2020 election—darkly charismatic, authoritarian, and cultish—I employ three lenses of analysis: paradigm shifts as progenitors of crisis; 'basic assumption' patterns of work avoidance in groups; and 'holding environments' as the imposition of salutary boundaries that foster growth. In combination, these three lenses offer an interpretation of recent events in America that enhances the dialectical approach proposed by Critical Leadership Theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is aimed at researching different approaches to the definition of the term of «principles of accountance». Different terms are used in the writings of domestic and foreign authors, as well as in normative materials of different countries. Most often these terms are not defined in normative documents, which complicates an understanding of their essence. The system of international accountance and financial reporting standards also uses two terms, «principle» and «fundamental assumption», without definition. Their analysis suggests that the term of «principle» is used in the case of an unconditional principle that is usable in all cases; the term of «fundamental assumption» is used in the case of an implicit principle which is not of a universal character. There is also no clear division of the terms of «principles» and «qualitative characteristics» in the system of international standards. As a result, the number and relationship of quality characteristics are constantly changing in different editions of the Conceptual framework for financial reporting. It is concluded that the basic terms of accountance need to be defined at the international level.

The results of the study on post-traumatic stress rates and individual indicators arising in response to the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease are being analyzed. The participants of the study are the patients of Burdenko National Medical Research Center of Neurosurgery, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (n = 25) diagnosed with meningioma. It has been shown that one of the psychological consequences of the diagnosis of “meningioma” is post-traumatic stress of different intensity rates. Increased depression, shyness and emotional lability are associated with high post-traumatic stress rates. The comparison of the triad of emotional-personal characteristics, social support indicators (according to the Psychological Safety Questionnaire) and basic assumptions (according to the World Assumptions Scale) made it possible to verify the research hypothesis. It has been revealed that high rates on depression and shyness scales (according to the Freiburg Personality Inventory) do not reflect the tendency to avoid social contact, but indirectly indicate the presence of auto-aggression or introverted orientation directed to oneself in people diagnosed with this disease.

Every scientific or intellectual movement is founded upon basic assumptions and hypotheses that shape its specifically formulated philosophy. This study seeks to explore and explicate the basic philosophical underpinnings of grey systems theory (GST), as well as the paradigm governing its postulates. The study, more specifically, scrutinizes the underlying principles of GST from the perspective of postmodern philosophy. To accomplish this, the epistemology, ontology, human nature, and methodology of GST are substantially investigated in the light of postmodern philosophy. The study draws on Burrell and Morgan's framework to reveal the paradigm underlying the philosophy of GST. Results demonstrate that GST is an anti-realistic, anti-positivistic, and non-deterministic theory which is inherently pluralistic and ideographic. Based on the principles of GST, change is an indispensable dimension of human speculation about the world and systems, and knowledge is ceaselessly reproduced as new information is collected. As a result, knowledge, narratives, theories and scientific laws are dynamically changed. GST, then, is remarkably compatible with the foundations of postmodern thought and it could be regarded as a postmodern theory governed by a humanistic paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Within the conditions of information socialization that is transforming communication and placing high demands on the ability of the individual to search, select, critically comprehend social information for decision-making and carrying out moral choices, a new social situation has developed. The research of the relationship between cognitive methods of processing social information on the Internet and shaping the worldview and ideas about the moral regulation in adolescents makes it possible to study the patterns of personality development in the unity of the cognitive and value-moral spheres. The Objective of the research is to identify cognitive methods of processing social information on the Internet as a factor of developing a picture of the world in adolescent users with varying degrees of involvement and the risk of Internet addiction and moral regulation of relationship between them. Hypothesis. Cognitive methods of processing information on the Internet are connected with the level of Internet addiction - a high level of Internet addiction corresponds to the low efficiency of cognitive methods of processing information. These methods influence the emerging system of major beliefs and worldview characteristics, and level of sensitivity to situations of moral choice. Design. The author’s method of assessing social information on the Internet based on Crick and Dodge model (1994), Chen method for diagnosing Internet-addictive behaviour, «The scale of basic beliefs of the person» of R. Yanoff-Bullman (Kalmykova , Padun, 2002), and the author’s method of assessing moral aspects were used. The study involved 84 adolescents from 13 to 18 years (46% males and 54% females). Results. A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of cognitive processing cycles was conducted and gender differences were revealed. The relationship between Internet addiction and the effectiveness of cognitive processing methods of information on the Internet is verified. The significance of interpretation, behaviour assessment and the ability to construct social adaptive behaviour in communication to shape the major beliefs and moral attitude in adolescence are shown. Conclusion. There are differences in the effectiveness of cognitive processing cycles of information. High efficiency of short-term, long-term, medium-term perspectives and behavioural responses and the ability to choose adequate social behavior corresponds to a relatively low productivity of interpretation. Internet addiction is interrelated with the low productivity of interpretation. Moral attitude is mediated by the age features of adolescent self-awareness and is related to the effectiveness of information interpretation, the evaluation of behavioural consequences and the choice of appropriate ways of social interaction.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently ravaging health systems across the world. Psychiatric trainees are at risk of exposure to patients with COVID-19 given their clinical roles in emergency and inpatient psychiatric settings. This article represents a case study of group dynamics in which we reflect on our own experience as psychiatric residents at a Boston-area hospital system in the era of COVID-19 and apply Wilfred Bion's concepts of the "work group" and the "basic assumption group" processes of group operation. We assess dynamics between trainees and administrative leadership both at baseline and in the current pandemic. Since navigation through crises is more effective if group leadership recognizes and responds to basic assumption behaviors, we propose suggestions to enable health system administration to successfully lead health care organizations through periods of societal turmoil. We posit that these principles apply across settings, specialties, and provider types. In addition, we use our observations to indicate future directions for expanding Bion's theories in the contemporary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Company-specific production systems (XPS) are standardised improvement programmes, devised by and adjusted to a particular firm, generally a multinational corporation (MNC). A pertinent issue concerns the possibilities and constraints of putting them into practice in plants in different countries. This paper describes and analyses to what extent and how a Norwegian MNC succeeded in adopting an XPS in its local plants. Design/methodology/approach: Brazilian, Chinese, and Norwegian plants of a Norwegian electro-chemical company were studied from 2017 to 2019. Our data consist of the results of the plants' XPS assessment programmes, combined with interviews and observations at different organisational levels. Findings: The MNC largely managed to adopt the XPS in these plants. This was made possible by creating a strong corporate culture, shaping the managers' basic assumptions, and persuading lower-level management and operators to adopt the improvement programme. The corporate culture was the result of several initiatives, including the deployment of different human resource management practices, supported by top management teams and using the Norwegian plant as a laboratory visited by operators and managers. Originality/value: This paper is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to study the actual use of an XPS intra-organisationally. It highlights the role of culture development and the basic assumptions for achieving global adoption. Global improvement programmes require constant managerial attention and actions at several levels in order to be adopted globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore the dynamics of a small psychotherapy group, whose members, all young adults, began to wait for each other at the end of the sessions to walk down a stretch of road before going their separate ways. Clinical material selected from some sessions of the first year of the therapy is presented and commented on. From the possible meanings attributed to the walk, the authors highlight the group process characterized by the oscillation between the basic assumption of fight-flight and that of dependency. The work shows that the group's walk becomes, from attack to clinician, to creation of a transitional area where it is possible to experience being a young adult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Dr. Harms´ case report, the identity development of adolescence and emergent adulthood is viewed through a postmodern environmental framework. The holding function of the therapeutic relationship provides crucial scaffold to revisit earlier traumas. A pluralism of concepts, along with a consideration of the therapeutic setting, is integrated within an overarching personal theory of the therapist. These factors, in combination, offer stabilizing properties and a secure space for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe their experiences as members of an international online study group, initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic to read aloud and discuss Bion's (1965) Transformations . The three separately authored essays and commentary included here reflect the multifaceted phenomena in which images and voices in Zoom rectangles are transformed into shared emotional experience, the O of the group in Bion's language. These observations show how group members translate online experience into a felt sense of being with others, and suggest that oscillations in the sense of being inside or outside the group demonstrate the dialectical and constantly changing nature of the analytic field in an online group.

Donald Trump's improbable political rise and unexpected capture of the US presidency during the 2016 presidential election is framed within Wilfred Bion's (1961) theory of groups. Bion's concepts of basic assumption phenomena, the group as a part-object mother's body, the function of specialized work groups, and the roles of introjective and projective identification are explored and elaborated upon in the context of the relation between Trump and his supporters and detractors. Basic assumption phenomena were activated in both groups as each defended against psychotic anxieties tied to work group activity and other threatening aspects of group experience. Trump-as-leader emerged through a neglect of projective identification due to both supporters' and detractors' regressive and dissociative tendencies as they relate predominantly to pairing group activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group analysts involved in organizational consulting are confronted with the question of whether they are prepared to consider group sizes with more than twenty participants when designing consulting settings. The author outlines how the model of the analytical large group has a considerable impact on group analytical counsellors. Who follows thereby rather "classical" defaults, promotes group regression and destructive dynamics, which are anyway essential parts of larger groups. While such a („classic“) form of group leadership can be traced back to Bion, the Foulkes-oriented attitude of the leader strives to keep tension and fear in the group at a bearable level in order to be able to work constructively.e [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fourth basic assumption in the unconscious life of groups and group-like social systems is Incohesion: Aggregation/Massification or (ba) I:A/M. Derived from failed dependency as the essence of ubiquitous traumatic experience, which is a matter of kind and degree, Incohesion is typical of all social systems in which traumatic experience is prevalent. It is pertinent to understanding political processes in societies, to consultations to traumatized organizations, and to clinical work in groups, especially for our most difficult, traumatized patients. Incohesion is especially pertinent to working with the vicissitudes of social identity. Although this perspective is central to Foulkesian Group Analysis, it draws from the work of Winnicott and others associated with the Group of Independent Psychoanalysts of the British Psychoanalytical Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article represents the first complete systematization of the basic assumptions as theorized by Wilfred R. Bion and post-Bionian authors. The authors reviewed, compared and systematized all the Bionian developments concerning the basic assumptions taking the prevailing anxieties, group topology, leader peculiarities, interactions with the work-group mentality into account. The analysis evinced five main ba(s) and five subsets (i.e. their features resemble one of the five main basic assumptions). Briefly, in the first paragraph the authors summarize Bionian thought and its underlying logical criteria while in the second they reviewed all the new proposals for basic assumptions emerging from the psychoanalytic literature (i.e. Lawrence, Bain and Gould, 1996; Romano, 1997; Sandler, 2002; Sarno, 1999; Turquet, 1974; Hopper, 2009). In conclusion the authors focus on the main strengths and critical points of the systematization. In the last section 'Promising developments' they address the methodology of the study of basic assumptions, its main features and potential developments. The article rounds off with a clinical appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the role of leadership, this report on an action research process discusses employee and organisational silence. Applying system psychodynamics to organisational theory, I argue for tolerance to provisional indecision in leadership as a means to promote openness and acceptance of debate and criticism in a climate that takes into account the unconscious dynamics of organisations. The research process focused on a merger between the citizen service center and the local library services in a Danish municipality of some 60,000 inhabitants. Staff members were urged to participate in working groups to discuss the reorganisation as such and their future tasks; however, disaffection and concerns about job security gave rise to serious problems between staff and leaders, and no constructive dialogue was established to deal with the issues. Employees' failure to speak up and address their concerns was alleged by management to be the stumbling block to further action, and thus management ignored potential system failures. This position is based on an understanding that 'talking about others' creates a negative spiral of gossiping and distortion of facts. A management perspective that emphasized assertive action thus exacerbated staff frustrations and prevented the management team from acknowledging the true problems facing the organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify the assumptions underlying organizational culture with emphasis on the teachings of Islam. Culture are the basis of organizational change. The main essence of corporate culture,their basic assumptions of the culture of the organization.The methodology This study was descriptive analytical. For the purpose of this study the documents were examined. Accordingly, the relevant traditions and verses from the Quran and books purposefully selected credible.Then, through a qualitative analysis, using inductive deductive content analysis method of open coding, data were collected and analyzed. Assumptions underlying organizational culture, from the monotheistic world view are being appeared in five categories: origin of ultimate and subject, man, the world, time and place.

The article presents the study of a phenomenon of corporate life from the description of the organizational culture in three organizations of educational character in Santa Marta-Colombia, whose objective was guided to describe the organizational culture, where it is possible to show different dynamics as part of the operation and relationships in terms of the context in which institutions develop. This is a qualitative study on the methodological perspective of phenomenology, transversal, with a sample of 30 people (teachers and administrative staff of the body), selected from a convenience sample. Information from the use of the technique of focus groups was collected, and an instrument of information gathering semistructured interview. It was found that; these institutions are within a culture elemental level (Level 1) which is the results to, according to Schein (1988), the lack of integration and the introduction of basic presumptions at a basic level of stability achieve solutions to several basic alternatives. Keywords: Culture; organizations; basic assumptions; relationships; cultural level.

Many aspects of the institutional life and organizational functioning of psychoanalysis deal with and are affected by evaluation. This paper focuses on one manifestation of this difficulty, namely the evaluation of candidates in psychoanalytic training. Opinions vary regarding its place, necessity, and contribution. Although it is at least nominally practiced in many institutes, it is nonetheless fraught with difficulty. We explore some of the sources and nature of what hampers the function of evaluation of candidates, employing Bion’s Basic Assumptions and their effect on institutional dynamics. Related issues include the ambiguity surrounding the role and authority of the supervisory role and the present theoretical diversity. The role and function of the supervisor is central to this evaluation and focal in our discussion. Our presentation draws on and makes use of the findings of the EPF End of Training Evaluation Project (ETEP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development, application and validation of a safety culture assessment approach for nuclear power plants based on Schein's culture model. The developed multi-method approach aimed to unfold deeper levels of culture, and, at the same time, to be applicable by practitioners and transparent in producing meaningful results. In Study 1 we describe the development of the method and its application in a German nuclear power plant. Study 2 presents a crossvalidation of the approach in a second German nuclear power plant. The evaluation results of the approach reveal adequate validity with regard to the obtained results and its perceived congruence to safety culture in both plants. It becomes evident that the approach allows for deriving basic assumptions of plant members and demonstrating their significance for safety performance. Moreover, it can be shown that it is worthwhile to go beyond the assessment of artifacts and espoused values in understanding cultural dynamics on a plant level. Finally, insights and limitations of the developed approach are discussed and reflected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many contemporary theoretical approaches to psychotherapy are referred to as neo-Freudian theories. However, many of these approaches are more accurately considered neo-Adlerian. A thorough comparison of Kleinian theory and Adlerian theory demonstrates that Kleinian theory may be better referred to as a neo-Adlerian approach. A historical context of each theory is provided to demonstrate that the principles of Kleinian theory are products of Adlerian theory. A summary is provided that compares Kleinian theory with the basic assumptions of Adlerian theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses five currents in organizational psychology that have had particular significance in relation to the field of organizational development in Scandinavia: The social psychological, the socio-technical, the humanistic, the work psychological, and the social constructionist currents. I discuss central tenets from leading scholars in relation to group norms, contextualized working tasks, and conflicts among groups. Although treated differently, the phenomena of the small group, group dynamics, resistance to change, and process consultation are throughgoing. These phenomena link the discipline together into a mutually discordant, but relatively consistent discipline. While the early currents focused on interpersonal process based on dialogue for the sake of satisfaction and efficiency, the latter sees movement as a goal in itself. The analysis exposes a decrease over time of analytical interest in group norms, contextualized tasks, and avoidance of conflict. This focus on continual change has negative implications for the credibility of the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptualisation of culture as a variable is highly popular in construction project cultural context compared to its conceptualisation as a root metaphor. The purpose of variable conceptualisation mainly includes removal of formal irrationality in a cultural context, which is heavily criticised for its practicality. However, the purpose of cultural conceptualisation as a root metaphor stresses on the advantages of using the cultural learnings in the form of underlying basic assumptions during change initiatives, analysing conflicts and in negotiation processes. Therefore, this paper highlights the necessity and possibilities of learning construction project culture as a root metaphor despite the methodological difficulties through a review of key literature and an exploratory case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with borderline personality disorders (BPD) have great difficulties with interpersonal relations. Their extreme difficulties with interpersonal relations are illustrated in psychic family interaction. Parents become the recipients of conflicts and patient's aggressive behaviour, while family stress increases due to suicidal tendency, self-injuries and substance abuse. The current report presents the introduction of group psychotherapy for parents of young adult patients with BPD, treated in a special unit of personality disorders at Eginition Hospital. The aim is, through the parallel group therapy of patients and their parents, to establish the conditions of continuing therapy for the patients as well as maintaining therapy outcomes and to construct a facilitating environment where the family's mental pain, anxieties, anger, shame, guilt and sadness can be contained. Clinical material from the first sessions of a 13-member parent group is presented to illustrate the resistances, the primitive defenses and the basic assumptions of dependency and fight-flight developing in therapeutic work with parents. Furthermore, the groups' split and hostile transference communications and the therapists' countertransference reactions are discussed. Τhe containing function of the group is described as a therapeutic process of transformation of the primitive anxieties and projective identifications, which is gradually established through the therapists' elaboration of their countertransference reactions and their tolerance to hostility and confusion. Containment facilitates the establishment of a group culture of empathic understanding for parents' unconscious resistances, denial of the illness and negative projections onto their child and the therapists, so that resistances gradually to be curbed and archaic projections to be transformed. Hence, the group is expected to function as a safe space to allow the manifestation and relief of destruction anxieties, and the expression of unuttered and intolerable emotions. Finally, the group as a mother-object is expected to be internalised as a model of positive parental care, enhancing the empathic and reflective ability of the parents so that they may repeat the parental role in a process of reparation.

Background. The framework of this study is guided by "organizational culture", which directs the way people behave in an organization. Culture, together with religion is considered to be an influential source of basic cultural assumptions, cultural values and artifacts reflected in organizational culture. Research aims. This paper explores the relationship between culture, religion and the culture of an organization at the level of basic assumptions. The research hypothesis is that religion, which is considered a factor of culture and is operationalized by cultural dimensions such as: individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity affects the level of basic assumptions of organizational culture. The main objective of the paper is to build the model of organizational culture on the level of basic assumptions and test this model by two-fold verification in companies operating in different religious environments. Methodology. The scope of the research is the organizational culture of two companies performing in Podlasie region. The method used in the research is comparative case study built on quantitative research techniques. Those techniques embrace two kinds of questionnaires addressed to the employees of both studied organizations. Key findings. The study shows that cultural dimensions could be used to explore religion's influence (Catholic and Orthodox) on an organizational culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors present the findings of a research on psychoanalytical therapeutic interventions with Battered women, using the “Meditative Review" proposed by Bion, categorizing and analyzing the clinical material. Continuing experiences of abuse and violence produce narrowing and annihilation of psychic, is described, by the authors, as a reduction of psychic depth, inside and outside, produced by the primacy of the id and the objects on ego instance, the absence of the internal world leading to motor actionreactions, without thought (one-dimensionality), with sensory perception predominance (two-dimensionality) and alternating permanent use of Basic Assumptions leading to dehumanized life. The analytical conceptual framework used follows the Freud, Klein, Bion, Meltzer and Green research lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social unconscious is an idea primarily linked to group analysis. This article argues that the unconscious is socially constructed and it is essential that we recognize the power of social forces on our psyche. While Freud’s concept of the super-ego implies the existence of a socially constructed aspect of the unconscious, I propose that if the unconscious is inherently social then the anxieties we experience and defend against are based on our need to belong rather than our fear of annihilation. Tracing these ideas through three individual case examples, I demonstrate that the cultural and societal roots of the unconscious are crucial to our understanding of the workings of individuals and of the groups to which they belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes as its focus sibling relationships in the world of work using a perspective from a systems psychodynamics theory of organisations. In psychodynamic literature, lateral relationships seem to have received less interest and study in the past than oedipal (hierarchical) relationships and I wonder why this is. Currently, however, there is increased attention to lateral (sibling) relationships, perhaps because organisations – and social structures, and, in particular, issues of equality and parity – are under scrutiny. Our current coalition government in the UK (and indeed, the struggle between the Milibands for the leadership of the UK Labour Party) indicates their prominence. The article explores these relationships, using the work of Armstrong, Long and Bion among others, with examples from my work as an organisational consultant to illustrate my ideas. Using innovations from group relations work, I try to show how lateral relationships can be used creatively to extend our experiences of working in organisations and how these explorations may help us to think in different ways about issues of competition and collaboration in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]