Abstract
Development of a new paraprofessional training program, in a large psychiatric hospital, afforded the opportunity to study institutional resistance to change in detail.
In addition to the varieties of resistance and their methods of production, resistance was examined in relation to the variables of project phase, self-awareness, degree of emotional investment, agency interdependency conflicts and counter-resistances. Creating a new, potentially encroaching discipline in mental health was the major threat perceived by personnel.
While resistance encountered during program development is a formidable obstacle, it is also an essential concomitant to significant change and can be utilized to enhance its productivity.
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At the time of this training program, Dr. Wallach was Chief of Allied Health Services Education, Brentwood Veterans Administration Hospital, Los Angeles, California, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
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Wallach, H.F. Vicissitudes of institutional resistance to change as exemplified in a paraprofessional training program. Psych Quar 48, 327–335 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01562156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01562156