Socioanalytic Methods: Discovering the Hidden in Organisations and Social Systems

by Susan Long

Overview

Socioanalysis is the study of groups, organisations, and society using a systems psychoanalytic framework: looking beneath the surface (and the obvious) to see the underlying dynamics and how these dynamics are interconnected. This book examines several of the methodologies used in socioanalytic work. Even though the beginnings of socioanalytic investigation lay in the mid-twentieth century, a broad look across several methodologies has not been done before, despite separate publications dealing with particular methods. In addition, several new methods have been developed in recent years, which the present work incorporates.Connecting all these methods is their aim of 'tapping into' the dynamic operation of what the author calls 'the associative unconscious' within and between social systems. The associative unconscious is the unconscious at a systemic level. Each of the methods discussed in this book accesses the associative unconscious in different ways. They help bring hidden dynamics to the surface for people to see how they influence, aid, or inhibit their activities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367101558
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/05/2019
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction: Socioanalytic methodology , Background , The associative unconscious , Work culture analysis and reflective space , Methods , Observing anxiety: a psychoanalytic training method for understanding organisations , The use of drawing as a tool in socioanalytic exploration , Socioanalytic interviewing , Social dreaming , Thinking organisations through photographs: the social photo-matrix as a method for understanding organisations in depth , Social dream-drawing: “Drawing brings the inside out” , OPUS Listening Posts: researching society , Organisational role analysis , Role biography, role history, and the reflection group , Diagnosing organisational work cultures: a socioanalytic approach , Group relations conferences , Socioanalytic dialogue , Wonder and socioanalysis , Using and creating socioanalytic methods

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fantastic book that pulls together and integrates the various perspectives that have developed over the last century with respect to what is going on 'below the surface' in individuals and organizations. By providing a palette of lenses, the reader is invited to explore, discover and find meaning and insight into dynamics and behaviours that otherwise remain out of awareness. Each chapter contributes to a deepening level of understanding, enabling the reader to form hypotheses which lead to the discovery of the rationale beneath the 'irrational' aspects of human behaviour in organizations. Anyone who is curious about why people and organizations behave the way they do will most certainly find this book a great source of insight."

Roger D. Lehman

"An exciting collection of new essays, by some of the world’s leading theorists and practitioners of socioanalysis, who explore reflective spaces necessary for understanding and renewing organizations and social systems. The depth and range of explorations of the 'associative' social unconscious, the analysis of work culture using reflective space, and specific methods and tools (including the distinctiveness of socioanalytic interviewing and social dreaming, listening posts, conferences, and understanding specific 'country romances' socioanalytically), can help address national problems. A “must read” for learning and thinking contemporary socioanalytic theory and practice."

Professor Douglas Kirsner

"This book is a feast of theory and method. It takes up what might be experienced as overly abstract ideas, such as 'culture', 'system', and 'matrix', and makes them real in the context of actual methods and practices. Susan Long and Maurita Harney’s introductory essay, linking socioanalysis to Pierces’ theory of abduction, is a masterstroke. It grounds socioanalysis in a philosophic tradition and demonstrates how socioanalysis, in the spirit of abduction, stimulates moments of discovery and surprise for client, consultant and researcher. Surprise, as abduction makes clear, is the beginning of discovery. The essays that follow on the use of drawings and photos, on social dreaming, on the salience of reflective spaces, on organizational role analysis and on other methods, all demonstrate how the scholar practitioner can stimulate discovery through the judicious use of practical methods. This book has surprises for the experienced practitioner as well as those just entering the field. I recommend it highly."

Larry Hirschhorn

"This book is a feast of theory and method. It takes up what might be experienced as overly abstract ideas, such as 'culture', 'system', and 'matrix', and makes them real in the context of actual methods and practices. Susan Long and Maurita Harney’s introductory essay, linking socioanalysis to Pierces’ theory of abduction, is a masterstroke. It grounds socioanalysis in a philosophic tradition and demonstrates how socioanalysis, in the spirit of abduction, stimulates moments of discovery and surprise for client, consultant and researcher. Surprise, as abduction makes clear, is the beginning of discovery. The essays that follow on the use of drawings and photos, on social dreaming, on the salience of reflective spaces, on organizational role analysis and on other methods, all demonstrate how the scholar practitioner can stimulate discovery through the judicious use of practical methods. This book has surprises for the experienced practitioner as well as those just entering the field. I recommend it highly."

"An exciting collection of new essays, by some of the world’s leading theorists and practitioners of socioanalysis, who explore reflective spaces necessary for understanding and renewing organizations and social systems. The depth and range of explorations of the 'associative' social unconscious, the analysis of work culture using reflective space, and specific methods and tools (including the distinctiveness of socioanalytic interviewing and social dreaming, listening posts, conferences, and understanding specific 'country romances' socioanalytically), can help address national problems. A “must read” for learning and thinking contemporary socioanalytic theory and practice."

"This is a fantastic book that pulls together and integrates the various perspectives that have developed over the last century with respect to what is going on 'below the surface' in individuals and organizations. By providing a palette of lenses, the reader is invited to explore, discover and find meaning and insight into dynamics and behaviours that otherwise remain out of awareness. Each chapter contributes to a deepening level of understanding, enabling the reader to form hypotheses which lead to the discovery of the rationale beneath the 'irrational' aspects of human behaviour in organizations. Anyone who is curious about why people and organizations behave the way they do will most certainly find this book a great source of insight."

From the Publisher