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"A home for research and discussion about therapeutic community"
Dave Roberts
“What is the emotional impact upon staff of changing the
primary task in a residential children’s unit?”
September 2002
Submitted in partial fulfilment for an
MA in Therapeutic Child Care
The researcher pays close attention to not only the conscious impact upon the staff but also the unconscious impact, including specifically upon the researcher himself.
The researcher makes use of a case study approach along with extensive use of his own reflective journal maintained throughout the consultation process. Additionally considerable use is made of a group discussion based upon the feelings and thoughts of those staff that worked through the changing of the task.
In conclusion the researcher examines what can be learnt from the process of change before presenting an impression of where the residential unit has progressed to one year after the process of change had taken place. This precedes consideration to further research which is required.
Chapter Two Historical overview of the residential unit 7
Chapter Three Review of literature relating to the study 11
3.1 Primary task
3.2 Role of the leader
3.3 Management of change
3.4 Conclusions
Chapter Four Methodology of collecting data 20
4.1 Case Study
4.2 Use of the reflective journal
4.3 Group meetings or questionnaires?
4.4 Other methods of research
4.5 Ethical Issues
Chapter Five How did the staff team react? 26
Chapter Six What was the emotional impact upon myself? 29
6.1 Where did the second title come from?
6.2 What was the impact upon myself?
6.3 Why did the primary task need to be changed?
6.4 Reviewing the literature – why was it so difficult?
Chapter Seven Analysis of findings 35
7.1 Relation to primary task
7.2 Relation to roles
Chapter Eight What can we learn from the process? 40
8.1 As an organisation
8.2 In our daily work with the children
8.3 The containing role of management
Chapter Nine One year on – where are we now? 43
Chapter Ten Summary 45
10.1 Summary
10.2 Further research required
Through the writing of this study there are many people without whose support and encouragement I would never have finished. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all but to give a special mention to the following:
To Linnet McMahon, my tutor and dissertation supervisor, who has read, with great patience, the numerous drafts and supported me through the good times and the not so good!
To the team of staff at the Mulberry Bush School who have offered me their time and support and allowed me to write about the experience we all shared.
To the management of the Mulberry Bush School for their support throughout the course, in particular their financial support!
And last, but by no means least, to my wonderful fiancée, Jen, who has endured too many evenings and weekends listening to the tiring sound of my typing. Throughout the course she has proved an invaluable source of support and encouragement. Thank you!
“What is the emotional impact upon staff of changing the primary task in a residential children's unit?"
Within residential child care staff often talk about creating ‘stability’ for the children in our care, but what we often overlook is the stability that many of the adults we work alongside require - and in this I certainly include myself. There is something comforting about stability, regularity, continuity and consistency.
The demands placed upon those working in a residential setting with children who demonstrate severe emotional and behavioural disturbances are immense enough and have a huge impact upon each one of us without our having to deal with ‘change’ and ‘uncertainty’. Effective organisational change requires a degree of thinking and planning and for many this can be an uncomfortable, or even painful, experience and often leads to a degree of uncertainty.
Dockar-Drysdale (1990, p.129) likened the impact of the work on the workers to a form of analysis - “I have sometimes said to staff at the Cotswold Community and the Mulberry Bush that I feel the workers in such places go though something a bit like an analysis - without an analyst, sessions, couch or fee! - but with a lot of pain. Their work and their personal lives become enriched through this experience, and they improve their emotional economy, but the gaining of insight must always be a slow and painful process”. Although she was talking about the direct work with the children I believe her comments apply equally to any part of the work.
This dissertation seeks to examine the emotional impact upon staff (in which I include myself) of changing the primary task of a residential unit. The impact will be explored through reviewing the literature relating to the study, a case study, through reference to the reflective journal I have kept throughout my MA in Therapeutic Child Care and through a consultative process with the team of staff who worked through the changes.
The case study will be based upon events at the Mulberry Bush school, an independent, non-maintained special residential school. The school, which is founded on a psychodynamic theory base based largely upon the work of the schools founder Barbara Dockar-Drysdale, is set up to provide for the care, education and therapeutic treatment of up to thirty six children of primary school age. Although from differing backgrounds the children have all failed to develop a secure sense of ego integration and identity. This has left them unable to manage their own behaviours in an age-appropriate manner, and often unable to allow others to do so for them. In Winnicott’s (1965) terms they are described as “unintegrated”.
The children have all experienced repeated interruptions to their emotional care and development at an early age, often as a result of abuse, which has led to severe behavioural problems and prevented many of the children from moving beyond primitive levels of developments and functioning. These behaviours can be chaotic, unpredictable and disruptive and often extreme (Diamond, 2002).
My role at the school is that of Team Leader to one of the four residential units and as such I have responsibility for the oversight of not only the group of children, but also the team of adults and their development as individuals and as a cohesively working team.
Inevitably the role includes trying to contain the anxieties of the staff team and to manage their resistances that arise from working alongside severely troubled children (Diamond, 1998). It is my responsibility to maintain close contact with the day-to-day dynamics of the work along with the pressures, anxieties and stresses of the work. My role is at the boundary of the team, which enables me to hold a ‘paternal’ position whilst supporting the therapeutic relationships. At the time of the case study I was Acting Team Leader, which will be explained in more depth in Chapter Two.
It is worth acknowledging the structure of the team and roles team members held within the team during the period being written about. As mentioned I was acting as deputy team leader in the absence of the team leader whilst my deputy had recently returned from maternity leave (she had previously been deputy team leader to the absent team leader). In addition the team included two senior practitioners who had worked in the team for a number of years and two therapeutic care workers who were considerably newer to the team. The team were further supported by a volunteer worker and a support worker, both of whom had left, as planned, at the end of the school year which coincided with the change of primary task.
Although this study is based upon events at the Mulberry Bush it is not felt that these experiences are unique to my organisation. Indeed I am aware of at least one other therapeutic residential unit who have undergone a similar series of changes over the last two years. Thus it is hoped that this study will be of benefit to a wide range of residential institutions that experiences significant levels of change whilst providing myself with a greater understanding of the impact my team and I experienced.
The significance of this study relates not only to the direct work of changing the primary task but also to the work with the children as well. It is important that we can grow to understand the impact of major changes on both ourselves and the children with whom we work in order that we can work more effectively with them and are greater able to meet their complex needs.
I have chosen, after consultation with the school’s Director, to include the name of the school and of the unit involved in order to give a more rounded context to the case study. It has also felt that as a long established organisation it is important for other establishments to see the struggles and difficulties we work with and that perhaps they can identify with.
Before looking at the structure of this study it is useful to explore what is meant by some of the terms that will be used throughout. The 'primary task' can be defined as the most basic task that the organisation must perform in order to survive (Rice, 1958). Although an organisation may have several different aims or objectives, which may be statements of their intended direction, the ‘primary task’ is the most fundamental aim of the entire organisation and the way to engage with these aims (Roberts, 1994). A clear understanding of the task is essential to enabling us to determine what the outputs of the work will be (Ward, 1993).
The meaning of 'primary household' is open to some deliberation but for the purpose of this piece of work will be taken to refer to a residential household whose aim is to cater for the most elemental and primary experiences of the children. Many of these experiences should have occurred within the first year of a child’s life and without them the child is unable to reach a degree of integration as an individual. Indeed as Dockar-Drydale (1968, p. x) states “the provision of primary experience is fundamental to the therapy of children who have been let down in infancy or earliest childhood”. Thus the purpose of the ‘primary household’ is to offer these experiences later in a child’s life in order to help them develop their degree of integration. These experiences may include the literal holding of a child, providing comfort, warmth, nourishment and care but also providing the child with an emotional experience of feeling held in mind and contained.
The term ‘primary household’ is directly linked to the term 'secondary household' which will be taken to refer to a household whose primary task is to meet and develop the secondary experiences of children. For the purpose of this piece of work the Dockar-Drysdale (1968, p.47) definition of ‘secondary’ will be used, i.e. “post-integration, but still very early experience, such as introjection and projection”.
Throughout this study reference will be made to further important terms, which require defining. ‘Projection’ relates to the unconscious processes by which a person pushes out unwanted feelings in an attempt to lodge them with other people (Greenhalgh, 1994) whilst ‘transference’ will be taken to refer to the unconscious process by which emotions related to a significant relationship, usually parental or involving authority, are transferred onto another relationship (Greenhalgh, 1994).
The dissertation will be constructed in the following manner:
Chapter Two will provide a brief historical perspective of the residential unit and the reasons behind changing the primary task.
Chapter Three reviews past and present research literature in relation not only to the changing of a primary task but also to the role of the leader and to the management of change. This has acted as an aid in my attempt to interpret and analyse the material, as well as trying to support a theoretical framework around the case study presented.
Chapter Four details the methods and methodology employed in the collection and analysis of data throughout this piece of work. In addition it critically examines the validity and reliability of the research procedures utilised. This chapter will also seek to identify and explore the ethical issues relating to the study.
Chapter Five reflects the view and reactions from the staff team to the changes.
Chapter Six gives acknowledgment to the unconscious issues surrounding this study
and presents a revision of the methodology based upon the unconscious impact upon myself rather than upon the team.
Chapter Seven explores the comments and views presented in chapters five and six and provides a theoretically based analysis of them using a theoretical framework based upon the review of the literature from chapter three.
Chapter Eight examines what can be learnt from the process for the unit, the organisation and other organisations and tries to determine how the work within this study can be utilised in the day to day work with the children.
Chapter Nine presents an updated picture of where the residential unit is, one year after the change of the primary task.
Chapter Ten concludes the dissertation by summarising the previous chapter's discussion and findings. From these, recommendations for the successful changing of a primary task within a residential setting will be made. This chapter additionally discusses several arising questions and considers the type of further research that may be beneficial.
This chapter seeks to provide a context within which the case study is to be based. As already mentioned the case study is based upon a piece of work carried out within the Mulberry Bush School, at which I have been employed for four and half years - two years of which have been spent as team leader of one of the four residential households. Each household is designed for nine children to live in “a carefully planned environment which helps them to understand their behaviour and their inner worlds or feelings in order to meet their painful needs and support their emotional recovery and growth” (Rollinson, 1995).
In the mid-nineties the school was on the brink of a series of huge structural changes with plans to move the children from existing dormitories into four semi-autonomous households. A proposal was put forward to develop a group, and in time a house, for the more integrated children of the school. The aim of the group, which became known as the 4th Group, was to develop a household which worked more with children’s secondary experience needs than their primary experience needs. The intention was that these more integrated children, who had already spent two to three years at the school, would make up the group before moving on from the school to their next placement. It was further planned that this group of children would constitute a smaller group than other households and would work with a lower adult to child staffing ratio.
The project was conceived and set up by a long-standing and highly experienced member of staff, who for the purpose of this piece of work will be referred to as Mark.
After three years Mark's deputy left the school and I was appointed as his new deputy - the first of several changes within the team. However, within six months Mark left the school on grounds of ill health. In his absence I became acting team-leader until I was officially appointed team-leader almost ten months later.
During my time as deputy team-leader the board of trustees had requested that an evaluation of 4th Group be carried out as part of the school's annual development plan. At the point of becoming acting team-leader this piece of work had not commenced, and I feel that it would not have taken place whilst Mark was team-leader as a culture of critical analysis could not yet be tolerated.
Shortly after becoming acting team-leader I initiated the process of evaluating 4th Group. At the time I felt this was purely because a request for the evaluation had been made but in hindsight I believe it had more to do with my struggles in developing my own leadership style after deputising for Mark, whose manner of leadership was very clearly defined - based in part on his long service to the school.
Shortly after the Christmas break a process was developed to evaluate 4th Group through evaluating the views of current staff, the group of team-leaders, parents (past and present) and the schools Strategic Management Group. The process took approximately 16 weeks.
An early stage of the process involved the group of team-leaders, along with the deputy director, spending an entire day looking in detail at 4th Group and trying to evaluate its place within the school. The subsequent stage was to discuss with the staff team their views on 4th Group. From these discussions it was put forward to the schools senior management that the function of 4th Group was no longer feasible, or required within the school. It was felt that the number of more integrated children within the school was not at the level needed to form a specific group for those children without severely compromising the primary task of 4th Group.
It was further felt that through the whole school working more effectively together we could meet the secondary experience needs of children even within primary households. It was felt that this would allow other households to move forward from being purely a primary household and allow for a degree of ego-integration to remain within the households which it was felt would benefit the less integrated children.
This recommendation was accepted by the senior managers of the school and it was agreed that from the end of that academic year 4th Group would no longer exist and would be replaced by a new primary experience household, although based in the same physical environment and operating with many of the same staff team.
As part of the change it was decided by the 4th Group team that a new name was required for the new unit (interestingly the name of 4th Group had always been a provisional name until a proper name was adopted – after four years this had yet to happen). Initially I adopted a process of inviting suggestions for names for the new house from across the school, including both children and adults, with the current 4th Group staff team being involved in whittling down the number of suggestions and finally choosing a name. Several suggestions were clearly linked to the past with the names of the schools founder, previous director and previous team leader being put forward as possible names. Suggestions from the children were few and far between yet one child’s suggestion of Pegasus (the flying horse from Greek mythology) was quickly included on the shortlist. After several weeks the process came to a close as the adults within 4th Group chose the name ‘Pegasus House’.
The actual change of task, although known about for several months, took place quickly and occurred towards the end of the summer term. With most of the existing group of children within 4th Group due to leave, due to their age, it was decided that on their leaving day a tree-planting ritual would be carried out in order to have a constant memory of the previous task and to celebrate the birth and growth of a new task which was to commence as soon as they had left. From that afternoon Pegasus House was born and the new task with it.
With hindsight it is much easier to determine why this outcome was reached. However, I feel that I was very unsure I could lead 4th Group after they had experienced the loss of such a charismatic and strong leader as Mark. As Greenhalgh (1994, p.90) asserts, “self-awareness of the impact of one’s own feelings upon the dynamics of a situation is of fundamental importance”. Thus throughout this piece of work I am constantly aware of the personal feelings I brought and felt. Although I felt extremely defensive of 4th Group’s position within the school I do not feel I strongly disagreed with the decisions made about its future.
Whilst this chapter has sought to provide a context within which the case study can be viewed it is also important to acknowledge that during this period of transition the school director left the school to be replaced by his deputy who in turn was replaced by one of the existing four team-leaders, who in turn was replaced. Thus the number of changes occurring within the school was significantly more than those directly discussed within this study.
This chapter seeks to examine not only the relevant literature purporting to the changing of the primary task, within a residential setting, but also to literature in relation to the role of the leader and to the management of change.
In order to search for relevant literature I initially made use of the Mulberry Bush School’s own library of journals and books relating to childcare. Following this I visited the Planned Environment Trust’s resource center in Gloucestershire and was able to make use of their extensive library of literature relating to therapeutic communities. Although searches were made using the internet I felt none of the articles I found were of sufficient relevance to include within the study. Further literature was obtained from both local and university libraries.
It should be recognized that this study refers only to literature from within the UK. Although I have made attempts to obtain and use literature from a wider European perspective this has not been possible, with one minor exception.
3.1 Primary Task
The traditional definition of 'primary task' is the task that must be performed by an organisation in order to survive (Rice, 1958). The need for a clear understanding of the primary task cannot be underestimated as a lack of understanding can prove counter productive to an organisation’s work. Roberts (1994) discussed the need for clarity of these most fundamental aims and an understanding of how to engage with these aims whilst Ward (1993) spoke of a clear understanding of the task enabling us to determine what the outputs of the work will be. It is clear that if those within an organisation are not clear what they are trying to achieve they are less likely to achieve it. For example, at the Mulberry Bush School staff need to be aware that we are not simply trying to contain a child but to enable them to understand their behaviours and to develop their control over themselves. If staff fail to understand this they are unable to work towards it and work can become counter productive to the task.
Menzies-Lyth (1988, p.222) discussed the difficulties if the definition of the primary task fails to occur as leading to "personal confusion in members of the institution, to interpersonal and intergroup conflict and to other undesirable institutional phenomena". It is clear that the lack of task definition, or even of feasibility, can lead to an anti-task stance as a means of defence (Obholzer and Roberts, 1994) whereby staff unconsciously work against the organisation due to being unclear of what is expected of them and what they are trying to achieve. Through using ideas of the primary task as a way of thinking it is possible to open an organisation to a more open manner of thinking and questioning.
Whilst the literature reviewed appears to relate to defining the primary task for those working within an organisation, as well as the community members, I have found none relating specifically to the primary task when working with primary aged children. The secondary household worked with older children, normally aged 11 and 12, who despite not having a clear understanding of the primary task were able to understand more than the younger children who would enter the primary household. Whilst we would not expect the children to have a solid understanding of the primary task, part of the work with all children is to enable them to understand how they have come to be at the Mulberry Bush School and what is expected of them whilst they are with us. It is often the children who have a greater understanding who are able to build more meaningful relationships with staff and other children and who are able to make greater use of the opportunities available to them at the school.
Hinshelwood (1987) suggests that uncertainty of the task eats into the confidence of the collective staff and that they will begin to lack clarity of their own roles within the organisation. At this point, he suggests, staff will begin to try and enhance their own sense of adequacy, which limits the support they can offer to others. Wills (1971, p. 27) also highlighted that unless staff in residential work are "perfectly clear about their precise task, they are almost bound to succumb to the pressures thus placed upon them". However it is always worth holding in mind that “the aims of the organisation and its sub-organisations should be limited and realistic, and disciplined by what can actually be done…” (Balbernie, 1966, p.185).
Although primarily discussing the work of psychotherapists, Karterud (1988) also made a strong connection between having a well defined task and a strong functioning group within a therapeutic community. What is also clear, with regard to the primary task, is that
an analysis of an organisation may well reveal a discrepancy between the stated primary task and the actual behaviour of those working within the organisation (Miller, 1989) and it is often here that the use of consultancy can be utilised to reduce this discrepancy.
Whilst much appears to have been written in relation to the importance of the primary task, and perhaps more importantly defining the primary task, there appears to be a limited amount of literature relating to the changing of the primary task. Perhaps the most notable exception to this is the work of David Wills. His remarkable book “Spare The Child” (1971) provided an account of the attempts by staff of an orthodox approved school in trying to convert the school into a therapeutic community. Wills (1971) reported that what was encountered was often violent hostility to such changes from some of the staff and severe reluctance from the boys at the school.
What is clear from "Spare The Child" is that changing the primary task brought about a great many difficulties. Some of these were peculiar to that particular school whilst others were inherent to the task of changing from one primary task to another. Perhaps most notable of these difficulties was the assumption that changing the task with the same staff team was an almost imposable feat. Wills (1971) raised concerns about how keeping the same staff team but giving them a different task could be implemented. He questioned whether staff would look back to the old task with deep nostalgia whilst longing for the charismatic leadership they had previously worked under. Wills (1971, p.24) initially believed the schools leader would face resistance that would be so strong and emotionally charged that he would be "annihilated by the forces that would be arraigned against him", which, although it is clear the school’s leader faced an enormously difficult task, proved to be a somewhat pessimistic viewpoint.
However this piece of literature, although important and working with still familiar themes, proves a rather dated account of changing the primary task. Our experience, knowledge and understanding of the implications of the primary task have increased enormously since the time of “Spare the Child” in 1971.
Kennard (1986, p. 175) when writing about institutional change, though not exclusively the changing of a primary task, made the suggestion that for change to be accepted it “must provide a rationale which convinces a significant number of staff. To succeed it must also provide them with a sense of increased mastery”.
It was disappointing to find that the one therapeutic community I knew of that had attempted to change the primary task from providing a secondary household to that of primary household had failed to make any written record of their experience and thus I was unable to utilise their experiences.
Whilst the above relates to the importance of defining the primary task and some of the issues attached, it is interesting to note that much of the literature relating to primary task fails to acknowledge the difficulties inherent in changing the task and the emotional impact on those who work through such a change.
3.3 Role of the Leader
The role of leadership is invariably a complex and demanding one and is often dependant to a particular organisation. However, certain elements of the role can be found across almost any organisation, whether residential or not, and can be linked to this study.
One of the most important elements of the role of those in a leadership position is to ensure that people remain clear about what the task is and the method by which it is to be achieved. It is important that those in leadership roles are able to distinguish between different roles whilst being able to develop clear connections between themselves and those with different roles. It is these connections, throughout the unit and the entire organisation, which can help lead to a greater understanding of the task and thus help with the unconscious communications within the organisation (Ward, 1993).
The pressure on those in leadership can be immense and those in leadership can often be responsible for creating, as well as resolving, confusion within the workplace. Organisational confusion, or weak leadership, can lead to a community being unable to define or carry out its primary task (Balbernie, 1966) which, as previously discussed, can lead to conflict and confusion.
Bion (1961) discussed the belief that the leader, ultimately alone, has the vital boundary function of defining the primary task and ensuring that this task is carried out with optimal efficiency. Whilst I would tend to disagree that this takes place in modern therapeutic communities, where flattened hierarchies mean that leadership is shared rather than resting on the shoulders of one individual, it again places emphasis on the importance of the role of leadership in ensuring the task is clearly defined and maintained. The role of leadership is often linked to the promotion of morale within the staff team. Good morale is based upon many factors but it is clear that sound organisational structure along with strong and clear leadership are essential ingredients. Within a therapeutic community a further important ingredient in sound morale is the need for a high degree of consciousness at a leadership level. It is essential that those with leadership roles have consciousness of the interplay between their leadership role and the team along with a consciousness of what is occurring in the underlying interactions between self and others, and between team and task.
It is also apparent that the role requires a setting of some form of hierarchy, which although often seen as against the original aims of the therapeutic communities is, I believe, essential when working alongside severely emotionally disturbed children.
Indeed if there is no adult hierarchy within the school there will be a genuine risk to the outcome of the treatment task (Diamond, 2002) – “for children who cannot mediate between mature and omnipotent states of mind, a permissive and pseudo-adult role can be used as a defence against facing real issues of emotional maturation”.
An important aspect of the work is that the building of relationships parallels that of the dyadic relationship – an idea that was formulated as the “provision of primary experience” (Docker-Drysdale, 1990). Care workers who provide reliable and unsentimental experiences of nurture and who are able to hold the child in mind translate this concept into practice. Clearly this work requires an intense preoccupation, like the dyadic relationship. Through projection, frequent aggression and generally through emanating chaos the child are able to get ‘under the skin’ and ‘into the heads’ of those working with them (Diamond, 2002). Part of the role of the leader therefore has to be to ensure this provision is available to the children, yet monitoring the emotional cost to the staff providing it.
3.3 Management of Change
Change within the workplace is often inevitable, and often healthy, yet the management of such change is often not as straightforward as it may appear.
Peter Marris (1974, p. 147) described the themes of loss in the workplace as "disrupting our ability to find meaning in experience" and argued that grief "represents the struggle to retrieve this sense of meaning when circumstances have bewildered or betrayed it". Through linking the management of change to loss he detailed how managers could show more sensitivity to the structural changes as if they were a 'bereavement', a loss of an important attachment. This he explained would allow for processes of change to be articulated less destructively. He continued by identifying the anxieties that surround change when the future suddenly becomes far less secure. However, he also believed that this could lead to increased attachments.
Although many of Eric Miller’s articles were based within a psychiatric setting, the themes and ideas he often discussed can be applied to many settings, including therapeutic communities with both children and adults.
One particular phenomenon Miller (1989) discussed was low staff morale that he felt was often evidence of the loss of psychosocial containment of the organisation. Low staff morale can then become acted out through, for example splitting, blurring of boundaries, and increased sickness levels. He believed that if the boundaries of an organisation became fragile, for whatever reason, then staff would begin to feel insecure and uncertain and thus their personal boundaries to the client group could become threatened. In a case-study presentation he linked these factors to the retirement of the most senior members of staff and a considerable degree of change taking place, in a similar vein to the case study presented within the study. This theme was also discussed by Jorstad (1980) who attributed the loss of charismatic leaders to a potential deterioration in the interpersonal milieu within therapeutic communities.
Effective management of change should ensure that the staff teams ‘resistance to change’, which can be viewed as ‘resistance to the removal of defences’, is taken into account and that any new structures continue to meet the staff team’s need for defences and recognises that during the transitional period of change mechanisms are put in place to assist in containing the heightened anxiety of the staff team (Miller, 1989).
An often written about theme of management is the maintaining of boundaries. It is often viewed that the leadership position is similar to a ‘Janus’ position (named after the Roman God with two faces, one facing into the house and one facing outside) whereby the leader must retain the ability to look both inside the organisation’s boundary and externally, at the dynamics and processes which affect all areas of the workplace (Diamond, 2002). It is interesting that, as again Miller (1989, p.8) describes, the leader “is often pictured, like the spider, in the centre of the web, for it is clear that effective leadership requires boundary position”. It is important that the leadership is able to protect the internal sub-systems from the outside demands but that it is also able to promote the internal system so that they can have successful relationships with the outside system.
It is clear that when the boundaries and structures of an organisation are not clear confusion arises which heightens uncertainty and anxiety. This can lead to what Balbernie (1966, p. 190) refers to as a “collusion anxiety cycle” whereby, the balance having been lost, the staff members retreat into one of two extremes – firstly their professional competence becoming frozen or secondly they fall into unconscious collusive emotional involvements. At either point the learning ceases to continue, the confusion increases leading to heightened uncertainty and anxiety and the cycle commences once again.
3.4 Conclusions
The research analysed herein clearly identifies the complexities of the primary task and the need for clear definition. It also clearly outlines the need for a clear definition of the role of the leader, for both the person taking on that role and those working alongside them, and for the recognition of the importance of managing change.
It is clear that there exists a distinct lack of research purporting specifically to the impact of changing the primary task but that there is a wider range of literature relating to the role of leaders and the management of change, although both appear to be related to a wide range of areas outside of residential primary child care. Thus one of the purposes of this study is to try and address this lack of existing research.
It appears that a wide-ranging study of the impact of changing the primary task is required, rather than individual case studies and it is hoped in some ways that this study can prove a starting point to what is needed.
The following chapter will describe the methods and methodology adopted in order to explore this area in further detail.
This chapter seeks to detail the methods used to collect and analyse the data in order to answer the question of “What is the emotional impact upon staff of changing the primary task in a residential children’s unit?”
When trying to think about researching this study I was extremely conscious that the research would be based largely upon the experiences of others and myself as therapeutic child care workers and thus, to a greater extent, would be highly subjective. However, research based upon direct observation, or obtained through personal experiences, has been described as a justified approach to researching an issue (Barnes, Griffiths, Ord and Wells, 1998).
The research contained herein will be of the qualitative type, which can be defined as trying to “fully describe and comprehend the subjective meanings of events to individuals and groups” (Epstein 1988, p.244).
It will be based upon several methods of data collection. Furthermore the research methods utilised will be of the ethnography, or participant observation, approach.
Although throughout the study the methods will be linked to form a cohesive approach, for clarity each method will be examined individually before consideration is given to the ethical implications of the study.
4.1 Case study
Primarily the research presented within this study will be based upon a case study approach. The case study approach can be used to examine research questions from both a "how" and "why" perspective and does not require the researcher to have control over actual behavioural events (Yin, 1989), as methods such as experiments would require. It can act as a method to investigate an empirical topic whilst allowing multiple sources of evidence to be utilized. Moreover it allows us to examine a contemporary phenomenon with a real-life context by following a set of pre-specified procedures. Case studies are often viewed as only being useful as an exploratory strategy yet they can easily be used with descriptive studies (Yin, 1989). The research question for this study is primarily explorative and thus the case study method of research is highly appropriate.
Like any research method the case study has both strengths and weaknesses and the primary ones are summarised below:
Strengths
There are several reasons why the case study method of research is useful.
1) It can be based upon contemporary studies or based upon historical events.
2) It can be used for either single or multiple studies.
3) Case studies are unique in being able to deal with a variety of evidence, e.g. diaries, documents, interviews, observations etc.
4) Unlike others methods of research, most notably experiments, it does not require the use of a controlled behavioural event to compare it against.
Weaknesses
It is widely regarded that three primary weaknesses of the case study method of research exist.
1) They are often considered to posses a lack of rigour in that it can be easy to allow equivocal evidence or biased views to influence the directions and findings.
2) They provide little evidence for scientific generalisations. Thus the aim for the researcher is to provide analytical generalisations and to try and enumerate statistical generalisations.
3) Case studies are all too easily overlong and often less than useful. It is to easy for them to become huge research documents, which provide a lengthy narrative. It is also often viewed that they take an inordinate amount of time to write due to the compilation of large quantities of data that are often involved.
4.2 Use of the reflective journal
The evidence from the case study will be supported by my own reflective journal, which has been maintained since commencing the MA in Therapeutic Child Care in order to develop my capacity for reflection (Walker, 1985).
Reflexivity, i.e. the capacity for reflection on experiences, is clearly an important issue in social research methods, which rely directly upon observations of people in their natural environment (Barnes et al 1988). The notion of a “reflective practitioner” is described by Schon (1993) as someone whose practice is accompanied by “thinking in action”, a concept appropriate to residential childcare settings. Through being able to reflect upon our own experiences, and being aware of our own feelings throughout our interactions with children and one another, we are able to develop our understanding of the behaviours of the children with whom we work. Greenhalgh (1994, p.83) highlighted the importance of observation when working alongside emotionally disturbed children - "it is through careful observations that we come to appreciate the links between the child's behaviour, interactions, and feelings, and to a better understanding of the child's needs". Thus, although the study is of a subjective nature I can use my own experiences to relate to a process that I have undertaken in my workplace. Thus I hope to be able to develop my conscious understanding of the process.
4.3 Group meetings or questionnaires?
In order to obtain the views of other adults involved in the change of the primary task it was arranged for a group meeting to take place. The group would consist of six members of staff who had worked within the household during the transition. These included two therapeutic care workers, two senior practitioners, the deputy team leader and myself. A volunteer worker who had been involved was unable to join the group due to having returned abroad and one care worker, who had been on a temporary contract, was unable to join us.
Although I had considered making use of a questionnaire to obtain the views and opinions of staff I eventually felt a group meeting would be more beneficial in that it would allow people to be more open about their feelings and would be less restrictive than a more formal questionnaire. My previous experience of obtaining information from the team through questionnaires led me to feel that they would find it difficult to express themselves onto paper sufficiently and that I would not obtain the information that I wished for. This contrasted with my experience of group meetings where I felt we had reached an ability to talk openly and, more importantly, honestly with one another. The use of groups is more pertinent to expressing attitudes and feelings (Brown, 1992), though harder to maintain confidentiality, which was a concern, and thus appeared to be a more relevant form of obtaining information. It was hoped that by using a group discussion I would receive richer material and have a better insight into the whole process of change, especially when thinking about the impact on the team as a whole.
Consent forms were sent out (see Appendix 1) to the staff concerned requesting consent for three specific issues: -
Are you willing to take part?
Do you mind the discussion being tape-recorded?
Do you mind the discussion being video-taped?
The consent forms made it explicit that any audio and video recordings would be used solely by myself and exclusively for the task of the dissertation, the subject of which was described in detail in a covering letter accompanying the consent forms. It was also made clear that the anonymity of each individual would be preserved and that all participants would have full access to the completed research project.
At the start of the meeting, I acknowledged to the group that my presence in the group was as a member of staff who had experienced the change in primary task rather than as someone in a leadership role who had overseen the changes. It was further acknowledged, by myself, that my presence in the group might have hindered people’s ability to talk freely and openly.
Although all members who had experienced the transition were invited to attend the discussion group only six of the seven were able to attend. An external person from the group was asked to facilitate the one-hour meeting and to hold the time boundaries in order that I could be freed up to be a member of the group, rather than the person whose project we were discussing.
The results of this discussion were recorded and reference to extracts from this will be made throughout the project.
4.4 Other methods of research
I was aware that at least one other therapeutic community had experienced a change of primary task from secondary household to primary. However, contact was made with this community to request copies of any written records or recollections they may have been able to offer. Sadly they had failed to maintain any documentation and thus were unable to assist me.
Although not a formal method of research I have benefited enormously from conversations, both formal and informal, with my colleagues and tutors on the MA in Therapeutic Child Care. This has helped point me in many interesting directions and led me to many interesting articles and views and as such has been a useful, if unorthodox, method of research.
4.5 Ethical issues
In carrying out a study such as this, ethical issues need to be given careful consideration.
It has already been mentioned that use of the schools name has been used after consultation with the schools director in order that other organisations can make as much use of this study as possible. However this has also meant that considerable consideration has been given to ensuring an accurate representation of the school has been given in a fair and balanced manner. No names are to be used throughout this study, with the exception of the previous team leader for whom a pseudonym has been used in order to preserve their anonymity.
I believe that by naming staff or making connections between their names and comments made by them I would not only be breaching their ethical rights but limiting the likelihood of their being completely honest in their comments. All members of staff who have participated in this study have been made fully aware of this issue and are clear as to what I intend to do with the information I gather. It should be noted that the information I have gathered, in both written form and that of the audio recording of the group conversation, have been kept by myself and are not able to be accessed by any other persons.
It is important that throughout the study I make clear which comments and views are my own. In a study that is based extensively on people’s emotions and feelings it is important that these be owned. It should also be borne in mind that the director of the Mulberry Bush School is also a part-time tutor on the MA in Therapeutic Child Care and who not only supervised me throughout the period of change but was directly involved in the final decision making process as the, then, deputy director of the school.
Finally, the school will hold copies of the finished dissertation in order that those who have contributed to the study may have full access to it.
Throughout the study I will attempt to maintain a strong anti-discriminatory stance paying particular attention to my representation of the views of team members who have not been named.
One of the most obvious difficulties with a study such as this is how to objectively measure ‘emotional impact’ upon people. What this chapter seeks to reflect are some of the views and reactions to the changes from the staff team concerned before an analysis of these views and reactions is given in chapter seven.
It has already been mentioned that a one-hour group meeting took place with many of those staff that had experienced the change of the primary task. A recording of this conversation was made and the points below are based upon that recording. As previously disscussed, to preserve anonymity names will not be given.
It was acknowledged that thought had previously only been given to the practical implications of changing the task. It was further recognized that the emotional impact had been touched on during weekly process meetings but that no specific space had been made for staff to think about this specific issue.
Several team members commented that the deputy-director of the school, and latterly a team leader, chaired the weekly process meetings and that people had “felt unable to talk openly” as a result.
One team member spoke of feeling angry that “there was no consultation between management and the staff working in the house”. It was later acknowledged that there had been some consultation, though a limited amount.
Several members of the team felt no one had explained to the staff why the changes were to take place which had caused feelings of anger, resentment and a lack of clarity.
It was expressed that people had asked themselves “why does my job need to be changed? Are we not doing a good job?”
Staff were still trying to deal with the emotional loss of Mark as team leader.
Staff members were “unsure what our jobs were”.
One member of staff who had joined the team just before the process of change had taken place expressed concern that “there were so many changes going on I didn’t know where I stood”.
Some members of staff expressed that it “felt a very underhand way of getting rid of 4th Group”.
No period of grieving was allowed for. The task changed and the work continued immediately, "like a factory".
Group members spoke of feeling a “loss of identity” as a result of the change.
Some people spoke of feeling “sad that a good piece of work” had come to an end.
Many of the comments were directly about, or alluded to, feelings of loss. These included loss of the task and loss of an individual.
Some team members spoke of a feeling of excitement about starting a new project, though acknowledged their feelings of sadness at losing the old task.
The school had never really accepted 4th group as being different.
It was questioned whether the changes would have, or could have, taken place were Mark still running the team and unit.
It was questioned why the team had had an acting team-leader for such a long period.
There wasn’t additional support offered to the team and thus the change overtook all other areas of support.
Several comments made relation to a loss of self-esteem and confidence due to not knowing what the new task would entail or whether staff would feel able to fulfill the new task.
Whilst many of the above points are direct quotes some are my own interpretations of what people have said. I have tried to avoid interpreting vague comments and restricted myself to highlighting only comments that I felt were relevant and straightforward to interpret.
Shortly after the conversation one of the members of the group told me how valuable it had felt to be able to talk openly, though extremely belatedly, about the process but questioned why it took a piece of work from outside the school to allow space for the group to meet and discuss the change of task. At the time I was able to answer in my leadership role that time pressures and priorities had prevented the work from being carried out, although the school was fully supportive of the process and work. However, through this study I believe the real reasons for allowing the process to occur, even belatedly, were connected with the emotional impact upon myself, which is discussed in more detail in chapter six.
An essential part of the writing of this dissertation has been the use of my student group. The group has allowed for a sharing of ideas, thoughts and opened up new areas to be analysed and dissected.
Through this process it has become extremely apparent that although I have named this piece of work "What is the emotional impact upon staff of changing the primary task in a residential children’s unit?" I have unconsciously set myself another study, and one that may prove to be more important - certainly in terms of my own personal development. Through the use of individual tutorials and the use of a presentation to the group it has become clear that my unconscious title for this study is "What was the emotional impact upon myself of changing role and leading a team through changing the primary task?"
Whilst the purpose of this study remains to examine the emotional impact upon the staff team this chapter seeks to address some of the issues of the unconscious title.
It is clear that therapeutic work requires considerable self-awareness and this key element is illustrated by Greenhalgh (1994) across a range of aspects in the work. The ability to reflect upon anxiety provoking situations, to build relationships, to help others develop self-awareness and to contain the anxieties of oneself and of others are all examples of the importance of self-awareness. Thus the idea of “professionalism”, which guards against workers becoming emotionally involved, is challenged. This refers not only to relationships with the clients, in this case the children, but to all those with whom we work, both clients and staff teams.
6.1 Where did the second title come from?
In hindsight it is easy to realise the defensive position of trying to examine the impact upon the staff team rather than centring upon myself. It is clear that the change of role and the subsequent change of primary task had an enormous emotional impact upon myself.
The emotional impact upon myself had clearly been immense and at the same time hard to think about and process. It would be easier to think about the impact on those around me than delve into my own emotions, many of which had been pushed to the back of my conscious.
It is clear that those in managerial positions are subject to the projections and transferences of those around them (Miller, 1993) yet I had failed to give sufficient thought to these processes and their impact. In hindsight it is clear that I was subject to strong projections from a staff team who were expected to change their primary task, as well as mourn the loss of an extremely charismatic and popular leader whilst accept a new leadership style from myself. It is clear from both my memories and reflective journal that the feelings experienced were incredibly strong, and often of a negative disposition. These are explored more thoroughly in the subsequent chapter.
Thus it is now easy to recognise the need to examine the emotional impact upon myself rather than "hiding" behind those of my staff team. However the knowledge of this does not necessarily make the task more bearable and I am now able to accept that I had experienced many difficult emotions and feelings around Mark's leaving, my deputising in his absence and the subsequent changes of leadership within the school and the change of task.
6.2 What was the impact upon myself?
Through the use of my reflective journal I have a good recollection of the emotions I experienced through the period of change. However this was the first time I had revisited my reflective journal and allowed myself space to digest the contents.
One particular entry came about from a consultation with the school’s consultant psychotherapist. He had raised the notion of my becoming omnipotent in the role of new leader having, unconsciously, killed off both my predecessor, Mark, and prior to that the deputy team leader. Both of these had occurred within six months of one another and could be interpreted as my killing of the "mother and father" of the unit. The change in role had also seen me progress from therapeutic care worker to team leader (acting) in less than seven months. The possibility of omnipotence at my "powerful and rapid progression” appeared to be in direct opposition to my own fears of whether I was capable of doing the job. Upon reflection it appears there was a strong dichotomy between the previously mentioned omnipotence of my becoming the team leader and the fears and anxieties that this provoked in me. Initially the only reason I was acting as team leader was due to Mark's unfortunate long-term sickness.
As part of my work as a leader I have to manage an array of unwanted, and often difficult, feelings that are projected onto me by staff members and children. These often include discontent from staff and the undigested and raw experiences of strong feelings that have been projected onto the staff by the children (Diamond, 2002). It appears clear to me, now, that throughout the process I was subject to an immense amount of projections from the staff team and from the child group which I am unlikely to have managed adequately due to paying an insignificant amount of attention to them.
In chapter two a context to the changes was been presented. However this have not taken into account the greater changes that the school was experiencing, instead concentrating on the direct context surrounding the unit.
As previously mentioned, during the process of changing the primary task the school’s director had left the school and the existing deputy-director, my own supervisor, took over as director. For a period this left me without a stable supervision structure, which I feel had it been in place would have supported me to think about the impact of the change upon myself. Furthermore it left the school as an organisation in a position of uncertainty and I believe lacking clarity. I would hypothesise that the change in director represented a questioning of the school's primary task to the children and adults alike. The loss of the previous, and charismatic, director may be viewed as an abandoning by "the father figure" of the staff, "the children", who were left to make sense of their feelings of loss.
This train of thought also suggests that I felt unsupported in changing my own role and hugely responsible for ensuring the “smooth transition” for the team in having a new leader. However this also poses questions of why was the primary task changed?
6.3 Why did the primary task need to be changed?
Whilst the above question can be rationalised it needs to be examined on both a conscious and unconscious level.
Consciously it was decided that the running of the unit did not fit into the current running of the school. It placed an unfair pressure on the other units to have a larger child group in order that we might have a smaller group of more integrated children who, it was felt, as a smaller group could work well alongside one another. This in turn placed a financial pressure on the school. It should also be acknowledged that the original task of the unit was to work with those children who demonstrated a higher degree of integration and that the number of children showing a suitable level of integration was significantly lower than needed to sustain the true task of the unit. Thus had we continued we would have compromised the original primary task of the secondary household.
However at an unconscious level I believe there were three additional reasons for changing the primary task: -
1. My transition to leadership would be easier if I could start afresh rather than continuing the work of someone extremely charismatic and well respected.
2. The school as an organisation had felt unable to challenge my predecessor and were now faced with a new team leader and a culture where critical analyse could be more tolerated.
3. The change in the management structure of the school allowed for an unprecedented level of change.
The first point is perhaps the most difficult to write about as it is so personal. However I have made use of the school’s consultant and the group on my MA to help me explore these thoughts. It would be incredibly easy for me to return the reader to the conscious decisions behind changing the task and avoid the point I raise above. It is clear from my reflective journal that I was extremely unsure of my ability to deputise for Mark during his absence. I questioned my ability to gain the respect of the team, to manage the ensuing levels of anxieties and projections within 4th Group and thus felt at an unconscious level that the management of them may be easier in a new household with a new task.
The second point is based upon my feeling, and that of others within the school, that the position Mark held within the school, after over twenty years of service, left the management of the school unable to challenge him, for reasons I am unsure of.
It could be argued that the level of change experienced by the unit I was managing, the school as a whole and by myself was unhealthily high. My personal belief is that the school became consumed with the loss of the ‘father figure’ (the director) and the temporary gap this left before he was replaced by the deputy director - which I feel led to fragmentation within the school. This led to a number of changes and decisions being made which under normal circumstances the school would have had more time and space to process and would have encouraged a greater consultation period. Whilst there is a balance between acknowledging the loss of the school director and continuing the work during this period I feel an unnecessarily high number of changes occured within too short a period of time.
The opportunity to reflect upon your own experiences and interactions is an invaluable one. Although it can be a long and painful process it can lead to a more thorough understanding of events and feelings. McMahon (1998, p.120) highlighted that “there are no short cuts to the informed reflection which enables workers to engages with the exciting and exacting tasks of helping children find themselves and live with what they find” and I believe this chapter has offered me an important space for reflection that can benefit my team, the children with whom we work and of course myself.
6.4 Reviewing the literature - why was it so difficult?
When I commenced the writing of this study I experienced significant difficulties in the writing of chapter three, the review of the literature relating to the study.
My intention was to write the chapter towards the start of the study, in parallel with it appearing as an early chapter. This would provide me with a theoretical framework with which to underpin the remainder of the study. However, I waited a considerable time before commencing the review. I am unaware of why I delayed analysing the relevant literature and do not feel there has been any conscious rationale for this.
However on an unconscious level the importance of reviewing the literature has been of great significance to me. It would not be beyond belief that I was unconsciously unable to tolerate, and thus attempted to avoid, a greater understanding of the study and the impact upon myself. It could also be viewed that reviewing the literature may have highlighted areas I had previously failed to recognise and address and thus may appear critical of my own involvement in the process. I am clear that this review should have taken place concurrently with the process of change and had I utilised theoretical literature at this point I may well have managed the process of change somewhat differently.
Thus I believe there was a clear unconscious avoidance of not only writing the review but of reading and acknowledging the theoretical framework that could have underpinned the process of change.
This chapter seeks to explore the comments and views that were presented in the previous two chapters and tries to provide an understanding for them within a theoretical framework based upon the review of the literature relating to the study.
Perhaps the most difficult part of analysing the information gathered is how to measure the emotional impact upon staff. As this study makes use of a case study, and does not use psychological testing of staff members, it will not be possible to provide statistical analysis. Additionally consideration must be given to whether the impact relates to individuals or to the team as a whole. My experiences of working within the team make me aware that this can be a difficult task.
It was clear from the group meeting with the team that almost one year after the process had begun, and six months since the primary task had changed, the emotions and feelings of those involved still ran high. However, despite trying to put people at ease by assuring them of anonymity and that the meeting was for my MA studies and not connected with my work as a member of management, people still, I felt, reacted and spoke cautiously. To a degree it can be argued that people could not be expected to be as in touch with their emotions and feelings six months to a year after the process but I felt that people were all too aware of the emotional impact upon themselves but found it difficult, and unnatural, to talk openly about them. At several points throughout the group meeting people strayed from the original aim of the discussion that I felt, and interpreted, as a defensive measure. Again the conversation changed to the practicalities of the change and we found ourselves talking about not having any spare bedrooms. I believe that what people really wanted was a protected space to reflect upon the process.
What was also clear was that the responses of the team appeared to link to two factors, how long they had been in the team and the position they held in the team. It was to be expected that the longer serving members of the team would find it more emotionally painful to experience the changing of the task, and the change of leadership, but initially I was surprised by the comments of some of the other team members. Some of the strongest comments came from the newer members of the team who clearly felt as if they had entered a constantly changing entity within the school and felt unsure when they would experience a degree of stability, as they clearly felt a school such as The Mulberry Bush should offer!
From the discussions it was also apparent that the team leader and deputy team leader at the time of the change, i.e. the two most senior members of the team, expressed more feelings of sadness than anger at the decision to change the primary task. I personally expressed a feeling of excitement at starting a new task, though acknowledged my sadness at losing another task. This appeared to be in contrast to the feelings expressed by the two next most senior members, both senior practitioners, of the team who expressed a considerable number of angry feelings. This may well have been connected to the level of involvement members had in the decision making process, and their understanding of the process. In hindsight it is clear that my deputy and myself were more actively involved in the process and thus had a greater understanding of the process, which may account for our apparent feelings of sadness rather than anger. Both senior practitioners had expressed feelings of anger and surprise at the decisions made and clearly felt they had not been involved sufficiently, which in hindsight given their positions within the team is clearly the case, and appeared to feel a degree of powerlessness in relation to the decision making process.
In relation to the aforementioned feelings of powerlessness during the decision making process it has been suggested that anger can act as an expression of our frustration and powerlessness (Crawford, Kippax, Onyx, Gault and Benton, 1992). They believed that a person with power, or in authority, does not need to be angry and that anger is a passion that overcomes people as a result of powerlessness. This may go some way to explain why certain team member appeared angry whilst others did not.
Bradley (1995) discussed the potential destructive element on the worker’s self-esteem caused through the work - an area highlighted from the discussion. Although she was directly referring to the projection of feelings from the children with whom we work I believe that her comments are equally valid in this study. From the recording of the discussion I believe that many team members experienced an attack on their self-esteem caused, not by the children, but through the process. She continued by suggesting that this attack on the self-esteem of workers can easily create feelings of negativity towards the projecting child and that supervision is an essential tool to enable the worker to feel better about themselves and to help objectify feelings and thoughts. This initially raises two questions for me:
1) Did team members feel able to discuss these difficult feelings with me in supervision due to my being a part of the process?
2) Did the process create negative feelings towards the management and the organisation as a whole?
Miller’s (1989) comments about low staff moral appear to link directly with the case study. It is clear that, as in Miller’s (1989) case study, the retirement of a senior member of staff and the presence of a considerable amount of change, led the boundaries of the organisation to perhaps be seen as fragile and thus led to the loss of psychosocial containment. It was apparent that during the period of change one team member left and at least two others expressed their desire to look outside of the school for employment.
Relating to the case study, Miller’s (1989) point regarding the introduction of mechanisms during the period of change, it is clear that minimal mechanisms were arranged to help contain the heightened anxiety - a theme mentioned by the team during the group meeting. The team continued to receive the same level of support structures as they normally had done. In hindsight this would have been an invaluable time to strengthen the teams work with the school’s consultant psychotherapist.
In answer to the first question raised above I feel that very few members of the team were able to make use of supervision to discuss these feelings. Thus I question whether these feelings had dissipated.
It was also raised during the discussion that although our weekly process meetings continued, a space to think about the emotional impact upon ourselves as workers rather than the children, they were chaired by the deputy director and subsequent to his promotion by a fellow team leader. This clearly hindered people’s ability to talk openly about their feelings and the impact upon themselves.
The views that “no period of grieving was allowed for” appears to link with the thoughts of Marris (1974) that the management of loss and structural changes should be treated as if they were a bereavement. It is clear from the team’s comments that people felt they were losing something they were strongly attached to yet no period of grieving was allowed for - indeed the work carried on “like a factory”.
7.1 Relation to primary task
In thinking about the changing of the primary task within the Mulberry Bush School it is clear that there were both conscious and unconscious objections. In hindsight it appears that some of the team’s unconscious needs were acted out during the changing of the primary task. As previously mentioned, several staff members spoke of applying for posts outside of the school, with two members doing so. Additionally sickness levels were higher than usual which appears to correlate with the views of Miller (1989) in relation to the absence of psychosocial containment leading to low morale . Hinshelwood (1990) refers to these actions as 'dramatisations' and concludes that they can act as transference at a communal level. Relating this to the case study it is clear that during the period of change certain members of the team became more self-autonomous which meant it was harder for them to be supportive of the team as a whole.
It is worth considering whether the changing of the primary task occurred at this period of time due to the amount of other changes occurring within the school. In relation to the comments made it is clear that some team members felt this was the case. David Wills (1971, p. 29), commenting upon his on case study, noted that the speedy changing of the primary task took place amid the turmoil already existing in the organisation in which he was writing. He believed that there was a genuine fear that if changes were implemented slowly the head teacher would face pressures against “change might be so strong that, over a long period, he may find them irresistible, and have to give up”. It would be easy to suppose that unconscious elements within the school aided the speed and timing of the changes that took place, perhaps to avoid thinking about the loss of the father figure and current director!
Balbernie (1966) maintained that staff members should be, and should feel to be, an essential part of the total organisation performing the primary task. It is apparent that through changing the primary task we ran the risk of staff members feeling inadequate in their existing jobs and this is clearly highlighted by questioning comments from the group meeting such as “why does my job need to be changed? Are we not doing a good job?”
7.2 Relation to roles
It is clear that importance should also be given to recognising that all staff understand the job being carried out by themselves and by others yet it is clear from the team’s comments that many felt unsure what their new job would entail, and that there was lack of clarity around my role as an acting team-leader.
I believe that much of this understanding and clarity was lost during the changing of the primary task and of leadership and that many team members became anxious about their own roles and lost sight of the task of others in the team, and possibly their own task.
Previous chapters have paid close attention to both detailing and analysing the processes surrounding the changing of the primary task. But what can we learn from this experience as an organisation and in our work with the children?
8.1 As an organisation
It is clear that by imposing changes within the workplace we need to allow some level of moratorium on our work. We should avoid burdening ourselves with excessive changes in order that our emotional resilience does not become exhausted (Marris, 1974). This I believe is a valuable lesson that we can learn from the significant number of changes that the staff team of 4th Group experienced. Additionally the abrupt discontinuity of the primary task, although planned for some time, was difficult to manage and should in future be avoided.
As a leader who has been internally promoted several times it could easily be viewed that I may have a disposition to be pre-occupied with “looking inwards” at my team and unit rather than maintaining the aforementioned Janus position. It is clear that I require, through my own supervision, an external monitoring process to ensure I remain able to look both inwards and outwards at my team in order that I may manage them more effectively. This, of course, is not particular to the changing of a primary task but was an essential tool that I felt I lacked at the time of the change and which has since been rectified.
It is clear that the subject of change is immense and requires considerable thought beforehand, during and after the actual change – be that the primary task or any other form of change. Although I feel we gave considerable thought to the changing of the task I feel that in future greater use of the school’s consultant should be made and that greater thought amongst those who would experience the changes should take place.
8.2 In our daily work with the children
It was stated earlier in this study that this piece of work was intended to support and develop our understanding of the impact of major changes upon the children, as well as ourselves.
Many of the theories referred to within the study can be used to develop our work with the children. For example much has been written about the need for a clearly defined primary task for the adults but the same must apply to the children. If they are unclear of why they are at the school, and its purpose, then they are more likely to be confused and to develop conflict between themselves and towards the adults. Hinshelwood’s (1987) ideas of the uncertainty of the task eating into the confidence of staff can also be applied to the children. By having a clear understanding of the task of the unit and school the children are more likely to develop their confidence and self-esteem.
Linking Marris’ (1974) ideas of change as a bereavement can also develop our understanding of the impact of change upon the children. Although many of the children with whom we work have experienced multiple significant changes in their lives this is not to say that the impact of any one change is any less. Through identifying anxieties that surround change we can develop increased attachments through presenting a future that is more secure. This idea appears incredibly important to our work with the children and the opportunities to build upon our attachments should not be missed.
The idea that low morale can be a result of the loss of psychosocial containment (Miller, 1989) can also be applied to the children. The importance of maintaining secure and clear boundaries within the unit are clearly vital and can help the children feel secure and develop their own sense of personal boundaries. Through providing psychosocial containment we can hope to reduce levels of splitting and acting out amongst the children and adults.
8.3 The containing role of management
It is important to note that when working in a psychodynamic fashion, workers must possess the ability to help children contain their, often, overwhelming feelings, often through being a container of these feelings themselves. However, it is also important for the workers to feel ‘contained’ by their managers and for all within the organisation to feel contained by structures within the organisation. It is apparent from this study, and in particular from my reflective journal, that as acting-team leader I was responsible for containing a large level of overwhelming feelings and emotions from the staff team.
I also believe that due to changes in management the containing structures were more relaxed than we would hope which perhaps led to team members, and to a degree myself, becoming overwhelmed. I believe that the school has done much to address this but that greater acknowledgment should be given to this area of the role in times of extreme change.
It is perhaps with relation to the required boundaries that as a collective staff team we became confused. It is apparent from this piece of work that greater clarity of roles is required within my team, with particular regard to what I expect of team members and what they expect of me as team leader. It is clear that within the team greater clarity and definition would enhance team members ability to carryout their tasks and to feel less inhibited by confusion.
At the time of writing it is a little over one year since the change of the primary task and it feels an appropriate way to approach the end of this study by presenting an impression of how far the new house has progressed and where we currently view ourselves.
Over the last twelve months we have moved from a small group of more-integrated children to a larger group of less integrated children who we have worked closely with to build a sense of group. The staff team has also experienced a considerable number of changes with people moving on, new staff joining but perhaps most noticeably by growing in size and facing the difficulties and challenges that a growing team encounter. We have experienced three children moving on from the household, and school, and are currently awaiting the arrival of three new children to join our group.
Throughout this study a variety of themes have been presented and discussed, many of which have been encountered over the last year. Issues including defining the primary task, self-esteem and the loss of containment, the role of the leader, maintaining the boundaries and the concept of change as a form of bereavement have all been encountered over the year. Many of these we have worked through and some remain as on-going work. However what strikes me as I write is that although we have dealt with these issues we have not become excessively overwhelmed by them.
One particularly interesting piece of work that we have initiated and carried out is to write and upkeep the ‘life story of Pegasus’. This has involved all members of staff and children who have moved on from Pegasus to contribute a brief piece about their experience of the house. Inevitably this has proved too difficult for some adults and children but for others appears to have been a cathartic exercise. It was interesting to note that several of the children who recently moved on from the school described their feelings of loss over 4th Group. It was also enlightening to read comments from one of the members of staff who worked through the transition who described the process as being a period of “immense emotional growth and understanding”.
It is clear that even one year after the change there are members of the team who are still working through issues of change, of loss and of new beginnings. Many of these relate to the changing of the primary task but for some I believe the changing of the primary task represented something more personally significant, on an unconscious level. For many it signalled the end of a piece of work, of working alongside Mark, of having a different task from the rest of the school and thus being unique.
During the last year we have experienced a number of difficulties, either isolated incidents or over brief periods of time. These have included severe acting out from children, acting out from adults, changes in the child group and adult team and challenges to the authority within the team. Yet despite these difficulties I do not believe we have experienced any greater frequency or intensity of difficulty than the other three houses within the Mulberry Bush. This I believe is testament to the hard work and perseverance of the adults and children within Pegasus House.
Towards the end of the academic year we signified the departure of a member of staff by having a whole house trip out. Sitting by a canal with a picnic I observed a team of adults and a group of children laughing and playing together as though any thought of changes and transitions were a thousand miles away. The emotional impact may have been intense and difficult but we were still left as a team for whom being together could be a positive and enjoyable experience, for adults and children alike. It was perhaps at this moment that I fully believed we had indeed made a successful transition to our new primary task
Throughout this study I have attempted to explore the issues surrounding the changing of the primary task within a residential unit. In particular I have tried to examine the emotional impact upon the staff team, through reference to a case study, a group discussion and my own reflective journal.
10.1 Summary
The study has necessitated the examination of the primary task, the role of leadership and the management of change.
In Chapter Two I provided a detailed historical perspective of the residential unit in which the case study could be viewed. It was important to place the study within the context and to explain the nature of the work and the processes that led to the primary task being changed. It was explained why my role within the school had changed whilst acknowledging other significant changes which occurred within the school during that period.
Chapter Three was used to examine the literature relating to the changing of the primary task, the role of the leader and the management of change. Issues of defining the primary task, clarity of role and task, self-esteem, the links between change and loss were identified. It was also made clear that little of the primary task literature related specifically to when working with children in a residential setting or directly to the changing of the primary task. The role of the leader was presented as a complex and challenging role involving the need to ensure the team are clear what the task is and how to achieve it. The boundaries of the leader are clearly important and it is clear I am required to maintain my position at the boundary of the team/organisation in order to ensure I do not become caught up in unconscious and institutional processes. These processes can be the underlying source of superficial conflicts, and it is part of my responsibility to understand the ways in which groups, sub groups and individual team members interact. I feel as though my understanding of such processes has developed immensely throughout this study and that I will be better equipped to understand and work with these in the future.
In Chapter Four I outlined the methodology that was to be used to collect and analyse the research data. The strengths and weaknesses of a case study approach were examined as well as the use of a reflective journal and the use of a group discussion meeting. It was discussed why a group meeting, rather than questionnaire, was made use of and the process of obtaining consent from team members to participate in and record the meeting. This chapter also sought to identify the ethical issues in a study such as this and explained how these would be worked with.
In Chapter Five I have tried to present some of the views and feelings of the staff team as expressed through a one-hour group meeting that was held, and recorded, with those staff that had worked through the changing of the primary task. It was important that specific feelings and comments were used but that staff member’s anonymity was preserved. Subsequently in Chapter Six I have tried to present an understanding of some of the unconscious issues that I have become aware of through the writing of this study, whilst also presenting an alternative unconscious title for the study. The specific impact upon myself was examined which involved discussing the projections of feelings onto myself and the possible omnipotence that may have come with my new role. Conscious and unconscious reasons were put forward for the need to change the primary task before thought was given as to why I had found it so difficult to carry out a review of the literature.
Chapter Seven presented an analysis of the comments and views from the group meeting and provided an understanding for them based within a theoretical framework relating to the literature reviewed in chapter three.
It was apparent that the most senior members of the team had experienced a different type of emotion to other members of the team and it was questioned whether this was due to other members having insufficient involvement in the process.
In Chapter Eight I have tried to identify what can be learnt from the study. This was examined from the perspective of the organisation and from our work with the children. Further consideration was given to the containing role of management and to the learning which had already taken place.
In rounding up the study, Chapter Nine presented an updated impression of how far the new household had progressed. This has demonstrated that despite the criticisms and difficulties that have been raised in previous chapters a positive step forward for the unit, and the school, has been made. It is clear that a great amount of work has taken place and presents the current unit as a secure and stable environment for both children and staff alike.
I believe that what has been shown throughout this study is the importance of recognising the full implications of changing the primary task. It is clear that this process is a far longer one that I had previously given credit to and that the work with staff members, the children and of course the leader overseeing the change must begin long before the change and finish long after the change.
10.2 Further research required
It is apparent from the study that research based more specifically upon the changing of the primary task would be extremely beneficial, as would further literature purporting to the primary task in relation to children.
It would be extremely interesting to carry out a wider piece of work and to examine the impact of changing the primary task in a residential unit not only upon the staff group but upon the whole organisation. It would also be beneficial to be able to monitor the impact upon the children within the unit, both those living in a unit that is preparing to change and those who live in a unit which has recently changed it’s task.
Finally, it feels important to note the impact of this entire study upon myself. Whilst any piece of in depth writing can be draining and frustrating, writing about your place of work can be even more so. There have been numerous times when I have wondered why I worked within an organisation and subsequently chose to spend my evenings and weekends thinking and writing about the same organisation. However, the study has proved to be a cathartic exercise which, having reached the end, I am pleased to have completed. I feel I have learnt a huge amount about the impact and management of change, my role within the school and most perhaps most importantly myself.
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