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In this article, the author offers a psychoanalytic perspective of violence and aggression in the workplace. With particular focus on public sector organizations, such as the postal service, the author submits that shame and injustice are at the emotional core of the problem. Following a statistical summary of violence in the workplace and an overview of the social and behavioral science research, the author provides a psychodynamic schema for analyzing the potential for violence at work. The model presented combines what the author refers to as a toxic mix of oppressive cultures and persecutory identities at work In conclusion, the author provides a brief description of his organizational change methodology.

The primary argument in this article is that the ability of any public organization to withstand the storms of political pressure and change stems from the character of leader-follower relations. Ultimately, the personal, political, and ethical integrity of public administrators depends on the degree of organizational resilience of public agencies. This resilience relies on the effective leadership of change. To enhance and clarify this perspective, the author uses Hobbesian and Rousseauian political theory as metaphors of organizational experience. From a psychodynamic perspective, this article attempts to explore more deeply the private world of public administrators undergoing organizational change.

This article explores the psychodynamics of language and communication in organizational change efforts. The author presents a case example of an intervention from his consulting work that describes the linkages among dialectic skills, childhood development, unconscious interpersonal and group phenomena, and he consultant's use of language. The author suggests that the participants' adroitness in communicating emotions in a group setting is a crucial factor in organizational change. He attempts to show, in theory and practice, why that is true, what the interventionist/consultant needs to know in this regard, and how positive steps may be taken to facilitate change.

Organizational identity offers a theory and practice for analyzing the intersubjective meaning of organizational behavior. It advances an explanation of individual feelings about organizations rooted in infancy, what Winnicott (1965) calls a "holding environment," and an explanation of interpersonal relationships in adulthood but with origins in infancy and childhood, what Kohut (1977; 1984) calls "selfobject transferences. "It further presents the notion of transference of emotions in hierarchical organizations as an instrument for observing and explaining key interpersonal relationships between organizational super ordinates and subordinates, and between organizational analysts and clients. Knowing organizational identity provides an understanding of unconscious motivations governing the behavior of organizational members.

We start with the premise that organizations are processes of human behavior that are experienced as experiential and perceptual systems governed by unconscious processes. This starting point leads us to discuss psychoanalytically informed organizational perspectives as a means of understanding how psychological reality shapes organizational dynamics. In particular, we argue that psychoanalytic organizational diagnosis requires a central role for transference and counter-transference. That is, interpreting data through the lens of transference and counter-transference assists in unpacking organizational identity and culture by relying upon an `experience near' stance for examining the narratives of organizational life. This introspective and empathic stance makes transference and counter-transference one of the core elements of a psychoanalytically informed organizational consultation. We provide a case illustration and conclude with some thoughts on how leaders and members of organizations can improve organizational performance by attending to the complex nature of psychological reality in the workplace.

Individual regression in groups stems from anxiety arising from each individual's attempt to construct a psychodynamic equilibrium between one's demands for adequate self-identity (individuality that is not a threat to other group members) and group membership (affiliation that is not a threat to one's identity). The dilemma of reconciling needs for individuality and group membership provokes annihilation anxiety in which one resorts to regressive action in order to protect one's self from anxiety associated with uncertain object-relations, annihilation and feelings of persecution, and loss of affiliation. As a result, group cultures often are characterized by unconscious actions and shared fantasies stemming from the sum of individual regressed and primitive coping defenses. Individual regression and other primitive defensive actions are observable at the group level of analysis, and lend themselves to description as a group culture. The psychodynamics of individual and group regression with four work-group typologies is illustrated. Each typology represents a predominant coping pattern observed in groups as members attempt to contain their basic anxiety.

Appreciation for irrational individual and organizational characteristics is fundamental to the ability to "enter"and comprehend the true significance of interpersonal and organizational behavior. Efforts to better comprehend human performance in complex bureaucratic organizations must acknowledge the impact of irrational psychological defensiveness on administrative behavior. The authors construct a conceptual model of psychological responses to stress in bureaucratic organizations in which they illustrate the dynamic, interactive relationship between stress, self-esteem, and psychological defenses aimed at alleviating anxiety, and the ability to act responsibly.