ABSTRACT
Various schools of psychoanalytic theory are used to understand leaders, organization members, and organizational dysfunctions at the individual, group, and organizational level. This chapter provides sufficiently accessible definitions and descriptions of the theories to promote understanding them as they are subsequently used. It discusses the concepts of denial, splitting, projection, projective identification, and transference. Projective identification takes splitting and projection to a new level: that of trying to control the other person by getting him or her or the group to become like the projections. Organizations are composed of individuals who most often work in one or more groups to accomplish the work of the organization. The dependency group appears to have attained security by being protected by someone, usually a leader. In conclusion, the three directions of movement—toward, against, and away—offer an intuitive framework that helps to account for what one often encounters in life and at work.
