A reconsideration of power in psychiatric administration

The management literature of the past few decades was imbued with a humanistic, behavioral science orientation in which the formal use of power was down-played. But with the changing economic climate has come a reappraisal of concepts of power and leadership, and more than ever the clinician-executive must recognize his responsibility for the constructive use of power. The authors review definitions and classifications of power from the management literature and psychoanalytic theory related to the use of power in groups. They present a model, analogous to the doctor-patient relationship, for the use of power by the clinician-executive in both stable and unstable organizations.