The concept of organization belongs in several different
scientific fields. It is used just as frequently in
biological discourse as in sociology or psychology.
The notion of organization is usually associated with
that of development. Neurobiology thus describes the
nervous organization of human beings going from the
simplest to the most complex structures, each integrated
in the other.
Freud used the notion of organization and associated
it with the development of the libido. He proposed
that the sexual life of human beings does not develop
in one phase but gradually, through a series of successive
phases or organizations. He wrote in Lecture 21 of
Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1916-17a
[1915-17]): "Normal sexuality has emerged out
of something that was in existence before it, by weeding
out certain features of that material as unserviceable
and collecting together the rest in order to subordinate
them to a new aim, that of reproduction" (p.
322). In the beginning infantile sexuality is characterized
by relative anarchy and the absence of any real organization,
with each of the component instincts striving independently
of the others for satisfaction. The features of sexual
organization take shape progressively, leading to
a relatively stable libidinal structure, which is
turn replaced in the course of development with what
we call normal adult sexuality. Particularly in Three
Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905d), "The
Disposition to Obsessional Neurosis" (1913i),
and "The Infantile Genital Organization"
(1923e), Freud described pregenital organizations
and an adult genital organization. The first of the
pregenital organizations leave it in the sadistic-anal
organization, in which it is not the component genital
tendencies that come to the fore but rather the sadistic
and anal tendencies. From the point of view of psychopathology,
obsessional neurosis represents a regressive form
of this. On a more primitive level, and following
Abraham's work, Freud described another pregenital
organization in which the erogenous zone of the mouth
plays the main role, an organization that is illustrated
psychopathologically in the form of melancholy. In
opposition to these infantile sexual organizations,
genital organization is characterized by the fact
that it is definitively constituted after puberty
and all the component instincts are subordinated to
the primacy of the genital organs and the goal of
procreation.
Another line of development other than the erogenous
zone must be taken into account in the constitution
of libidinal organization: that of the relationship
to the object. Freud did in fact describe this second
line of development leading the little human being
from an autoerotic phase (or organization) to a narcissistic
phase and then to a phase of object discovery. Although
they refer specifically to the psychoses in order
to postulate the existence of a narcissistic organization,
modern psychoanalytic studies, particularly those
dealing with borderline and psychosomatic states,
further enrich this notion by highlighting the defects
in the constitution of primary narcissism and its
object relations.
In sociology "organization" is understood
as planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human
beings to construct or compile a common tangible or
intangible product or service. This action is usually
framed by formal membership and form (institutional
rules). Sociology distinguishes the term organization
into planned formal and unplanned informal (i.e. spontaneously
formed) organizations. Sociology analyses organizations
in the first line from an institutional perspective.
In this sense, organization is a permanent arrangement
of elements. These elements and their actions are
determined by rules so that a certain task can be
fulfilled through a system of coordinated division
of labour.
An organization is defined by the elements that are
part of it, its communication, its autonomy (Max Weber
termed autonomy in this context: Autokephalie)(which
changes are executed autonomously by the organization
or its elements?) and its rules of action compared
to outside events .
By coordinated and planned cooperation of the elements,
the organization is able to solve tasks that lie beyond
the abilities of the single elements. The price paid
by the elements is the limitation of the degrees of
freedom of the elements. Advantages of organizations
are enhancement (more of the same), addition, and
extension. Disadvantages can be inertness (through
co-ordination) and loss of interaction.