[Managing conflict in psychiatric institutions]

Several observations made by the author in everyday practice during his activity as a supervisor of psychiatric therapy teams, are described. These can be classified as "subcultural phenomena". It is shown how the members of a therapy team will modify certain institutional conditions and parameters unconsciously but purposefully and make use of them for coping with conflict situations. This is demonstrated, inter alia, by the manner in which the duty schedule is handled and how the team deals with the sickness of a team member. This type of conflict management is then placed in relation to two major conflict potentials that come into play during everyday work in a psychiatric hospital: on the one hand, the pathogenic relationship offers made by the mentally ill patients, and on the other hand the adaptation strategies acquired during professional and institutional socialisation and moored in the conscious depths of the team member's soul. These adaptation strategies are interpreted by the team members as components of their professional identity. The therapeutic quality of an institution can thus be measured by the extent to which that institution succeeds in supporting these adaptive elements of its members and hence in relieving them of some of the mental stress to which they are exposed.