GOVERNMENT AND THE PERVERSE SOCIAL DEFENCE

Paul Hoggett

37 citations0/0 files storedBritish Journal of Psychotherapy

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Public Policy and Administration Research Psychology and Mental Health Psychoanalysis and Social Critique

Abstract

abstract Part of Isabel Menzies Lyth's legacy is the concept of social defence. This article examines the perverse social defence, recently hypothesized by Susan Long, and deploys the concept in a critical exploration of aspects of the modernization of the public services in the UK. It is argued that the ‘targets and indicators’ culture constitutes a perverse defence which fosters the development of anas ifrelationship between government and reality. The article explores the damaging impact of this defence upon the capacity of government and society to stay in touch with the suffering generated by increasing social inequalities.

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References

1991A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS?1995Simulacra and Simulation 2021One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society 1998The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification 2000Governance, Politics and the State 2006WHAT’S MEASURED IS WHAT MATTERS: TARGETS AND GAMING IN THE ENGLISH PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM 1960A Case-Study in the Functioning of Social Systems as a Defence against Anxiety 2001Modernising Governance: New Labour, Policy and Society

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