This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Herschelkrustofsky (talk | contribs) at 08:10, 20 November 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 08:10, 20 November 2004 by Herschelkrustofsky (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Tavistock Institute is an outgrowth of the Tavistock Clinic, which was founded in 1920 in Tavistock Square in London. The Institute, founded in 1946, was originally called the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. These institutions were entirely private, supported by private donors.
The history of the Tavistock institutions begins with the study they produced on the psychological effects of shell shock, which was found to induce in its sufferers a highly suggestible state.
During World War II, according to a Tavistock-affiliated web site, "many of the Tavistock's professional staff the armed services as psychiatric specialists, where some (notably Dr Wilfred Bion) introduced radical new methods of selecting officers, using the 'leaderless group' as an instrument to observe which men could take responsibility for others, by being aware of their preoccupations rather than simply by giving orders." A key figure in the history of Tavistock was Brigadier General Dr. John Rawlings-Rees. According to the Tavistock web site,
- The circumstances of World War Two brought together an unusually talented group of psychiatrists, clinical and social psychologists and anthropologists in the setting of the British Army, where they developed a number of radical innovations in social psychiatry and applied social science. They became known as the Tavistock Group because the core members had been at the pre-war Tavistock Clinic. Though only some of them continued their involvement with the post- war Tavistock organisation, those who did built on the war-time achievements to introduce a number of far-reaching developments in several fields. This style of research related theory and practice in a new way.
Among the prominent, and controversial, psychiatrists who have been associated with Tavistock are Dr. William Sargant, author of Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing, and Dr. R. D. Laing.
Critics of Tavistock have accused it of being involved in the research and practice of social engineering and mind control.