title: Test of time: a case study in the functioning of social systems as a defence against anxiety: rereading 50 years on.
abstract: In this paper I revisit Isabel Menzies's classic 'nursing paper' (I.E.P. Menzies [1960]. A case-study in the functioning of social systems as a defence against anxiety: A report on a study of the nursing service of a general hospital. Human Relations, 13, 95-121). I outline the main findings of the paper and connect it to the major theoretical developments made by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and consider the current relevance of the paper in the contemporary field of health and social care.
authors.affiliation: The Tavistock and Portman, NHS Foundation Trust, Tavistock Centre, 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3 5BA, UK. DLawlor@tavi-port.nhs.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lawlor
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011050:Policy Making; D011385:Projection; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D012114:Residential Treatment; D012933:Social Identification; D013598:Systems Theory; D006113:United Kingdom