Innovation and organisational defences

People are often described as ‘defensive’, but what does it mean for an organisation to act in a defensive way? Why does it happen, and what effect does it have? This chapter explores what it means for organisations working in the field of extra-familial risks and harms to enact collective defences. Drawing on data from observations of practice across the case-study sites, a composite vignette is constructed of a muti-agency team meeting. Taking a psychosocial perspective, the language, practice and behaviour of professionals in this composite ‘meeting’ is analysed through the lens of organisational defences against anxiety. Looking beneath the surface, the authors argue that defensive practice is caused by a complex force field created by anxieties about the high-risk nature of young people’s harm and the lack of a coherent regulatory framework. The chapter argues that practice and research in this field need to be characterised by emotionally containing reflective spaces, which will reduce defences and enable opportunities for caring and relationship-based approaches to young people’s safety.