Tavistock Institute for Human Behavior

History

The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations describes itself as "a novel, interdisciplinary, action orientated research organisation." It was "founded in London in 1946 with the aid of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation ... [and] set up for the specific purpose of actively relating the psychological and social sciences to the needs and concerns of society."[1]

"The circumstances of World War II brought together an unusually talented group of psychiatrists, clinical and social psychologists and anthropologists in the setting of the British Army, where they developed a number of radical innovations in social psychiatry and applied social science. They became known as the Tavistock Group because the core members had been at the pre-war Tavistock Clinic. Though only some of them continued their involvement with the post-war Tavistock organisation, those who did built on the war-time achievements to introduce a number of far-reaching developments in several fields. This style of research related theory and practice in a new mode."[2]

"The objectives of the Institute were to study human relations in conditions of wellbeing, conflict or breakdown, in the family, the community, the work group and the larger organisation, and to promote the health and effectiveness of individuals and organisations."[3]

"Since that time, the Tavistock Institute has evolved into an organisation that does research and consultancy, evaluation and professional development work in support of change and learning. We try to contribute to the development of the social sciences by publishing our work. We also own and edit Human Relations, an international social science journal, and edit Evaluation.[4]

The Institute was orignially located in the Tavistock Centre in Belsize Park, which it shared with the Tavistock Clinic. During the summer of 1994, Tavistock moved to its current location in central London.[5]

Funding

Tavistock describes itself as "a registered charity and a not-for-profit organisation" whose income "comes from research grants and contracts for research projects, consultancy, training and publishing;" plus its "own resources."[6]

Contact

The Tavistock Institute
30 Tabernacle Street
London EC2A 4UE
Email: central.admin@tavinstitute.org
Tel: +44(0)20 7417 0407
Fax: +44(0)20 7417 0566
URL: http://www.tavinstitute.org/index.htm