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
at Jonestown, discussed earlier, remain the most dramatic illustration
during my lifetime of a closed system’s demise.
Closed systems remain stable only as long as the external environments
on which they depend remain relatively stable. As soon as the external
environment begins to change, the strain on the closed system
increases, exerting enormous pressure inward on those inside the organization.
When the environmental changes are extreme, closed systems
die as a result of their inability to adapt.
A later chapter will detail some guidelines and approaches to intervening
in closed organizational systems, but before we bring our discussion
of professional closure to an end, we have a most significant item
remaining: the fate of the high priest/priestess.
5.31 The Fall of the High Priest/Priestess
In open organizational family systems, family health is not totally dependent
on the health of the leader. There are units and roles in such organizations
that function autonomously, with little direct involvement
of the leader. There are numerous sources of support for organizational
members other than the leader. And there are checks and balances that
limit the leader’s ability to make decisions that could mortally wound
the organization.
In contrast, the health of the closed system is entirely contingent on
the health of the high priest/priestess. Because of the extreme centralization
of power in the high priest/priestess role, transient or sustained disturbances
in that person’s health can have profound and immediate
effects on all members of the organization and on the viability of the organization.
The high priest’s/priestess’s ability to function is progressively impaired
by the closure process. The isolation of the organizational family
also cuts off sources of support for the high priest/priestess. Given such
a loss of replenishment and feedback, it is easy to see how the whole
system can get twisted by the high priest’s/priestess’s manipulations to
meet his or her own needs. Given the absence of internal and external
feedback, it is easy to see how the high priest/priestess might be vulnerable
to sudden and dramatic changes in his or her beliefs and values.
The high priest/priestess in a system characterized by sustained closure
who does not develop bizarre thinking and decision making is the exception.
Considering that he or she often has little contact with the outside
social and professional world, it is not surprising that his or her