ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some reflections on the democratic values implicit in group analysis and in its clinical praxis. They can be envisioned as a kind of collective holding, cloak wrapped around the group, which it define as an "ethical envelope". The chapter represents an ethical covenant between group members and relates to basic human concerns such as reciprocity, justice, fairness, and caring. It transcends any given personal or social qualities and is woven into the matrix of the group analytic culture, whether consciously or unconsciously. Relational psychoanalysis does relate more often to the impact that the social context has on the personal lives of people; however, ethical and moral concerns are still referred to with caution and reluctance. The chapter considers that group analytic ideas offer a basis for bringing together the individual and society. Thus, democracy aims to establish a social reality, where differences are acknowledged without domination, coercion, subjugation, or exclusion.
