Emoational Disturbances in the Federal Governament

Abstract

Exploratory sociopsychoanalytic research was undertaken on the relationship between psychopathology and bureaucratic work within the U.S. government. Individuals, work roles, and organizational culture were studied. Previous research indicated that career within bureaucracy platys a significant role in stimulating either health ` or pathological development. It was hypothesized that, in the government, presence or absence of psychiatric symptoms per se does not necessarily indicate presence or absence of psychopathology, because some types of work and management support pathological attitudes that result in no overt symptoms, since the pathology, is adaptive to the situation; other pathological attitudes are not adaptive and do result in overt symptoms; some people, within the normal range of character, develop symptoms because of stress reaction to an unhealthy situation; others develop more positively under certain conditions of work and management.