Incest 0000i-xiv FM 1 - William L. White

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t h e i n c e st u o u s wo r k p lac e
worker is available to other organizational members. At all
costs, avoid letting the worker resign and immediately leave the
work environment; or resign, immediately take a two-week vacation,
and leave without contact with other organizational
members.
• Provide some form of ceremony that marks the final step in the
termination process. Such ceremonies clearly, visibly communicate
that the person is no longer a member of the organizational
family. (These rituals are as much for the benefit of the ongoing
health of the organizational family as they are for the benefit of
the exiting member.)
• Build into final ceremonies other nurturing activities that meet
members’ needs (eating, drinking, playing, laughing).
• Provide some group-oriented activity immediately after the termination
to allow the organizational family to redefine itself
without the former member.
This section focused on how to prevent professional closure by shaping
how new members come into an organization, how professional boundary
transactions are maintained and increased, and how to allow members
guilt-free exit from an organization.
13.7 Preventing Social and Sexual Closure
The social and sexual closure of organizational systems often grows out
of the reduced boundary transactions, increased stressors, and decreased
supports common to professional closure. The strategies outlined
to prevent professional closure are thus an integral part of the
overall approach to preventing social and sexual closure. Additional factors
that influence social and sexual relationships among organizational
family members include the following:
Role Modeling of Managers. Supervisory staff members provide,
through their behavior and interactions, the model for interpersonal relationships
in an organizational family. Given that health and human
services work generally takes place in the context of interdisciplinary
team relationships, this managerial function has profound implications
for the health of the organizational family and the quality of client services.
Important elements of the role-modeling function include the
following: