Repetition & the Compulsion to Repeat: A Police Case in Point

A recent article in one of the academic journals may be of considerable interest to those involved in policing. This is especially appropriate in Canada as we focus on the 'Economics of Policing' which brings with it a concentration on possible organizational change. The citation for this article is as follows:

Diamond, Michael A. (2013). "Repetition and the compulsion to repeat: psychodynamic challenges in organizational learning and change." Administration & Society, 45 (5), 499-521.

Dr. Diamond is currently the director of the Center for the Study of Organizational Change (CSOC) within the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri. He has written earlier on his work as a consultant within police departments and brings a useful perspective to bear on the challenge of change in these types of institutions.

Dr. Michael Diamond

This recent article considers the impact of compulsive and counterproductive repititions on individual and organizational behaviour. Of course, for those involved in the area of training, repetitions may be extremely valuable for achieving higher levels of performance. Diamond acknowledges that there are, indeed, constructive and destructive forms of repetition. His focus in this instance, however, is on a police department where the chief and his management team (of captains) are viewed as being out of touch with the realities of police work. Consequently, the chief, and his team, view the officers as being immature and unrealistic in their demands. Police officers have engaged in acts of subtle sabotage including abuse of vehicles, aggressive behaviour, and avoiding traffic stops. Both sides become entrenched in their view of each other and any effective resolution seem difficult to achieve.

Diamond discusses how organizational diagnosis may be accomplished through the telling of that organization's "story" which really amounts to a narrative outlining some persistent structural and organizational fragmentation features. For learning to occur across an organization and for meaningful change to take place it is important that the inhibiting effects of individual and relational compulsions to repeat behaviour be addressed.

The author is an advocate of importing aspects of psychodynamics into the consulting process in order to assist individuals to reach some level of self-awareness that allows them to transcend the (natural) compulsion to repeat certain behaviours in personal and professional relationships.

Diamond uses the language of transference and countertransference to speak about relationships within organizations. Transference refers to the emotional bonds that exist between individuals which unconsciously influence and complicate relationships. It describes psychodynamic processes whereby individuals compulsively and repeatedly transfer feelings derived from childhood (or early profound relationships) onto work colleagues and supervisors. Accordingly, countertransference relates to unconscious and automatic emotional responses of others to the experience of these transferred and displaced emotions directed toward them by work colleagues and staff. It is asserted that adults are routinely engaged in the unwitting replication of child-like roles and relationships.

Organizations must be understood through a careul interpretation of the quality of interpersonal relationships. Diamond notes that police organizations are often able to change and adapt to challenges. However, they also exhibit an organizational culture which is "shaped by repetitive thematic and patterned narratives signifying experientially shared organizational stories, metaphors, and histories (p. 503)." Routine is important to police organizations and is profoundly comforting to all levels within the police department. Indeed, bureaucratic structures are ideally suited to encouraging, establishing, and sustaining routine. Yet organizations often require meaningful change if they are to thrive or survive in new circumstances.

Diamond speaks about the "existential threat" that often accompanies fundamental change. Stress and anxiety often go hand in hand with the loss of certainty and predictability that organizational change may signal to individuals. Resistance to change is a common phenomenon. Organizational theorists, like Argyris and Schon have distinguished "single-loop learning" from "double-loop learning" to capture some key insights. Single-loop learning (also known as first order processing) may involve a limited commitment to change. However, it is often governed by an individual's need to escape any risk of embarrassment or appearance of incompetence. Clearly, this attitude is not conducive to real change and actually against the possibility of arriving at breakthrough solutions or innovative approaches to organizational challenges.

The literature of organizational change labels double-loop learning as the reflective practice which allows an individual to admit to, and articulate, organizational problems, challenges, and difficulties. This is clearly the proper path to seeking solutions or proposing approaches that may resolve those issues. One is reminded of the important work of Thomas Kuhn in his publication: The structure of scientific revolution. Kuhn spoke about "paradigm shifts" and the importance of new researchers in various fields of science who could not acccept the anomalies which others in their field had come to minimize in order to continue with their routine work.

Diamond insists that meaningful change within organizations must be accompanied by careful analysis of the interpersonal relationships that exist within those organizations. There is a strong psychological compulsion to repeat that operates below the conscious level of thought. By explaining, exploring, and exhibiting organizational "stories" (or narratives) it is possible to make explicit some of the challenges that exist within an organization and move toward a resolution of those challenges.

Earlier, Diamond published a summary of his study of a police department which explores another aspect of organizational culture that relates to the question of repetition and the compulsion to repeat:

Diamond, Michael A. (2008). "Telling them what they know: organizational change, defensive resistance, and the unthought known." Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44 (3), 348-364.

In this article, he explores the skillful defense mechanisms people have developed to distance themselves from challenging and/or painful work experiences. He draws again on the literature of psychology when discussing Winnicott's concept of the 'true and false self' rooted in infancy. Organizations, including police departments, typically exhibit a defensive and highly political culture characterized by degrees of deception, mixed messages, camoflage, and other less than transparent approaches to their mandate. In order to truly comprehend these organizations, it is useful to move toward the encouragement of the 'true self' through deeper understanding of the complex psychological and subjective realities of organizational life. When combined with the social, political, economic, and structural realities of organizations, Diamond suggests that breakthroughs may be made which result in meaningful change.