Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

An important factor in the development of human personality during adulthood is the influence of the work organization. A longstanding concern among social scientists in this respect has been the impact of bureaucracy. Max Weber, in his classic description of bureaucracy, observed that the individual may become little more than a cog in the bureaucratic machinery, a process explained by Karl Mannheim in terms of functional rationalization : the idea that a sequence of actions is organized in such a way that it leads to a previously determined goal with every action in the sequence receiving a functional role. This has important outcomes for the individual, as it eventually induces self-rationalization or training to a specific psychological disposition. In extreme cases, this may amount to cognitive restructuring. The seminal account of this process was that of Robert Merton. He suggested that the values and attitudes necessary for the bureaucratic official to make a useful contribution are embraced to such a degree that the needs of the organization become secondary to the workings of the bureaucracy itself. This is explained to some extent by Veblen's concept of trained incapacity : actions based on skills that have proved effective previously continue to be applied even though they lead to unsuitable responses in altered circumstances. This is similar to Dewey's idea of ... log in or subscribe to read full text