Swimming with Sharks: The politics of survival in the large group

This paper focuses on the manner in which Institutions experience and deal with new individuals who come to work in their midst, as well as the experience of the individual, the 'stranger', when exposed to the power politics of the Institution. Does the stranger, the consultant, have power over the institution that seeks his/her assistance? Or does the organisations internal political structure, both conscious and unconscious,have power over the consultant? Clearly, as in the concept of projective identification, there is two way traffic of intrapsychic as well as interpersonal interactions. As the group increases on size, the possibility of having a shared internal picture of group relationships diminishes.