ABSTRACT
The sociologist Norbert Elias had an influence on Foulkes in his Frankfurt period, when they worked together with the sociologists, sharing the same building. Elias (1990) wrote about Foulkes, My central idea, which he applied in group analysis, was the recognition that individual and society cannot be separated, they comprise different levels of the same observation. Elias states explicitly that the group is the place where the personal 'unconsciouses' appear in the room, but also the common unconscious formations, developed during communication, as each person contributed their own to them. The danger of dictatorship is the issue, because personal freedom is decreased there; only the group is left, which is easy to manipulate in the lack of personal choice. The main instrument of tyrants is to confuse the relationship between person and group by enlarging the role of the group leader.
