SBR 4,2 146 Society and Business Review VoL 4 No.2. 2009 pp. 146-158 ©Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1746-5680 DOl 10.11081174656&1910965968 'Sl\, The current issue and full text archive of this jownal is available at • www .emeraldinsight.com/17 46-5680.htm Betrayal and friendship Robert French and Peter Case Bristol Business School, University of trw West of England, Bristol, UK, and Jonathan Gosling Centre for Leadership Studies, University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK Abstract PW"pose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between friendship and betrayal. Both are perceived to involve dynamics that can have a major impact in organizations, but both have tended to be under researched. Design/methodology/approach - The paper brings together ideas from psychoanalysis (object relations theory), archetypal psychology, and the history of ideas (the friendship tradition). It also uses a case study to explore how the emerging framework applies in reality. Findings -The exploration led to the conclusion that betrayal may have its roots at the same deep level of the psyche as friendship and they may, therefore, be equally fundamental developmentally. Originality/value -The paper opens up an important area for further study and application. It is intended to give status to two experiences that are of great importance to managers and managed, leaders and led, consultants and students. Keywords Interpersonal relations, Social psychology, Trust Paper type Concep-tual paper Do we begin - or does our "!" begin - with betrayal? Clearly, not all friendships last, and some end in betrayal. It was our own experiences of th'e impact of friendships betrayed, which led us to this theme. However, our discussions led us to question whether the pain, disruption, disbelief, and confusion that arise from betrayal in a particular friendship may contain echoes of a universal "primal agony" (Garwood, 2001, p. 155). In trying to understand the nature and impact of betrayal in friendship, we were led to question our easy assumptions. Both mythology and depth psychology suggest the relationship between friendship and betrayal find origins and may draw their energy from the same deep layers of the hwnan psyche. ' In this special issue of Society and Business Review dedicated to the life and work of Burkard Sievers, a scholar and author who has made a career from the analysis of the darker side of organizational relationships (Sievers, 1994) and who bas himself been occupied by betrayal (Sievers, 2007), it seemed appropriate to attend to what, at first sight, appears to be the shadow side of friendship. We begin with an exploration of some theoretical issues around betrayal and its place in hwnan development, drawing on object relations theory and mythology. We then look at friendship as one mode of relating, whereby a containing and contained relationship to self and other may be (re· )established. Inevitably, however, such interdependence brings with it the ever-present possibility of (further) betrayal. Finally, we illustrate these ideas with an example, taken from our own experience.