Die psychische Dimension von Institutionen

The psychological dimension of an institution comprises the conscious and unconscious experiences of its members. This article analyzes from the standpoint of an “advocatus diaboli” processes effecting that institutions often do not fulfill the tasks for which they were created. Freud developed in Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego a scarcely noticed model of “two psychologies” in institutions: depending on whether the individual is positioned “at the top” or “at the bottom”, it develops a psychology of a group member or one of a leader. Both may be transformed into each other. In the present article the author examines both the renunciation of power imposed on the “group individuals” and its consequences for the individual, and the effects of hierarchical advancement on the mind. As examples for the interrelations of violence, castration and law psychoanalytic and state institutions (bureaucracies) are presented.