scholarly journals A Psychiatric Residency in the Era of COVID-19: A Bionian Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-270
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Lim ◽  
Zachary B. Harris ◽  
Marissa P. Caan
Keyword(s):  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Health Care Organizations ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
Psychiatric Residency ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Basic Assumption Group

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.

scholarly journals A community of practice or a working psychological group? Group dynamics in core and peripheral community participation

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E Gray ◽  
Yiannis Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Group Mentality

The concept of communities of practice has become increasingly influential in management literature. Yet, many scholars regard the term as too homogeneous and lacking in empirical support. Our study explores the Silver Academy, a project involving over 100 unemployed and self-employed managers over the age of 50, who came together with the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience in starting up their own businesses. The study shows how the Academy matches the notion of community of practice, including mutual relationships, shared engagement and a common consensus of membership. However, applying Bion’s theory of groups, we challenge the homogeneous and consensual notion of a community of practice, illustrating how, through unconscious group processes, some group members exhibit work-group mentality and the capacity for realistic hard work (and leadership), while others are caught in a basic-assumption mentality, prone to feelings of anxiety, guilt and depression. This is particularly so for a group that has gone through the recent trauma of unemployment.

scholarly journals Leadership Acceptance Through the Lens of Social Identity Theory: A Case Study of Military Leadership in Afghanistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marenne Mei Jansen ◽  
Roos Delahaij
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Military Leadership ◽  
Single Case Study

This study builds on the experiences of a Dutch reconnaissance platoon deployed in Afghanistan in which leadership was not accepted. Setup as a qualitative single case study, this article advances our understanding of how group dynamics and contextual factors might impact the acceptance of leadership. Rather than primarily focusing on the behavior of the leader, this article highlights the perspective of followers in the ranks. The study also offers empirical evidence for the potential of social identity theory as a framework within which to study leadership acceptance. The case shows that leadership acceptance is largely dependent on group processes rather than on the characteristics of leadership. Additionally, it points to the importance of contextual factors. Finally, it suggests that a lack of attention to in-group dynamics, and a lack of active entrepreneurship by the leader, can catalyze “in-group entrepreneurship.”

Bion's Group Psychotherapy for Dramatic Personality Disorders: An Empirical Study in a Public Mental Health

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s782-s782
Author(s):  
M. Pacetti ◽  
M. Liotta ◽  
F. Ambrosini ◽  
R.P. Sant’Angelo
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Group Psychotherapy ◽  
Antisocial Personality Disorder ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Public Mental Health ◽  
The Self ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Basic Assumption Group ◽  
Competing Interest

Educational objectivesPsychotherapy is the most preferable intervention for personality disorder patients and group psychotherapy offers the possibility to increase the self-perception through resonance and mirroring processes. When a group is disorganized and emotionally tensioned generates regressive movements, which make it a basic assumption group.PurposeTo highlight the change of a group of patients after the inclusion of a new patient named Margherita.MethodsThe patients were included within the group run by two psychotherapists after a cluster B personality disorder's clinical diagnosis (except for antisocial personality disorder), confirmed by SCID II and by a set of individual interviews aimed to prepare the patient to the inclusion within the group.ResultsMargherita, from the first sessions, showed the tendency to coercively polarize the attention on herself through themes of discouragement and helplessness, posing a threat for the members’ identity and resulting in a disorganization of the work group, which became a basic assumption group.ConclusionsThe temporary disorganization of the group with the consequent regression to a worse functioning condition has subsequently allowed to revitalize the group and to avoid its dissolution. After the temporary regression, indeed, the work group was restored and started again to function even based on the new patient's problems.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The Behavior and Personality of Work Group and Basic Assumption Group Members

1993 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Lion ◽  
Leopold W. Gruenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Basic Assumption Group ◽  
Group Members

Participation and spatial transformation in large housing estates in Poland. Case study of Ursynów Północny

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65
Author(s):  
Krystyna Ilmurzyńska
Keyword(s):  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Spatial Transformation ◽  
Reciprocal Relationships ◽  
Spatial Transformations ◽  
Large Housing Estates ◽  
Existing Housing ◽  
Housing Estates

Abstract This article investigates the suitability of traditional and participatory planning approaches in managing the process of spatial development of existing housing estates, based on the case study of Warsaw’s Ursynów Północny district. The basic assumption of the article is that due to lack of government schemes targeted at the restructuring of large housing estates, it is the business environment that drives spatial transformations and through that shapes the development of participation. Consequently the article focuses on the reciprocal relationships between spatial transformations and participatory practices. Analysis of Ursynów Północny against the background of other estates indicates that it presents more endangered qualities than issues to be tackled. Therefore the article focuses on the potential of the housing estate and good practices which can be tracked throughout its lifetime. The paper focuses furthermore on real-life processes, addressing the issue of privatisation, development pressure, formal planning procedures and participatory budgeting. In the conclusion it attempts to interpret the existing spatial structure of the estate as a potential framework for a participatory approach.

Did Groupthink or Polythink Derail the 2016 Raqqa Offensive?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasey Barr ◽  
Alex Mintz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
The Us ◽  
Tactical Decisions

This chapter examines the effect of group dynamics on the 2016 decision within the administration of President Barack Obama to lead the international coalition in a mission to liberate Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State. The authors show that whereas the groupthink syndrome characterized the decision-making process of the US-led coalition’s decision to attack Raqqa, it was polythink that characterized the decision-making dynamics both in the US-led coalition and within the inner circle of Obama’s own foreign policy advisors. Through case-study analysis, the authors illustrate that groupthink is more likely in strategic decisions, whereas polythink is more likely in tactical decisions.

How to be a ‘good enough’ group analyst

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário David
Keyword(s):  
Group Therapy ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Personal Attributes ◽  
Personal Style ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Therapy Sessions ◽  
Training Practice ◽  
Analytic Attitude

A group analyst has an enormous influence over the group dynamics (the ‘matrix’) and this derives from his or her ‘identity or group analytic attitude’ which has been developed through training, practice and group analytic supervision. Each group analyst must develop personal attributes and also affective/cognitive capabilities required to become a ‘good enough group analyst’. Throughout group therapy sessions, specific dimensions appear related to each group analyst. These are of particular importance for a good evolution of group processes, pertaining to his ‘presence’ face-to-face with the group and to his personal ‘style’.

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