THE PSYCHOSOCIAL DYNAMICS OF CHANGE AT LEROS PIKPA ASYLUM

The pilot intervention project at Leros PIKPA asylum was resisted at a ll levels of its implementation. Resistance ranged from implicit and p assive to explicit and hostile. It took the form of strong rejective a ttitudes, defensiveness, and repressed emotions of guilt, shame and fe ar. It was apparent in efforts to delay, obstruct or reverse the progr ess of the project and undermine the work of intervention team members . It was evident in the interactions of the intervention team with all parties involved in implementing the project: medical professionals a nd welfare services, the state and local administrations, the central and local administrations of PIKPA staff, the local community, and the asylum residents' families and relatives. It is argued that this resi stance to change is due to the interplay of cultural/attitudinal, psyc hodynamic and socio-economic factors that are not unique to Leros or G reece. The analysis of the psychosocial processes involved in resistan ce to changing the Leros PIKPA asylum may offer insights to the deinst itutionalisation of custodial settings in general.