Survey of Aims & Values

In July and August this year, as part of a process aimed at developing a Statement of Aims and Values for the society, the GASi Management Committee organised a survey, asking members to choose between 4 possible draft statements. Here are the results.

154 members voted in response to the following:

“Choose which of the four drafts, below, is your preferred Statement”

40.91% voted for this statement:
GASi provides opportunities for the international exchange of Group Analytic theory and practice and is open to anybody interested in its application in any setting. As Group Analysis is rooted in a theory that fundamentally recognises the social nature of people, it seeks to understand and enrich the psychological, emotional, cultural and socio-political experience of individuals and groups in both clinical settings and beyond. Recognising the complexity of this task, and aiming to include people from any background, no matter how diverse, GASi is committed to providing meeting places where open reflection on the ways in which we include and exclude one another is expected.

11.69% voted for this statement:
GASi exists to provide opportunities for the international exchange of ideas and experience, in pursuit of the development of Group Analytic theory and practice. Group Analysis is rooted in the fundamentally social nature of people and we seek to understand and enrich the psychological, emotional and societal experience of individuals and groups, in clinical settings, and beyond. We want to include participants with many and diverse backgrounds. Therefore, we are committed to providing welcoming meeting places for individuals, which recognize and respect their class, culture, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, political affiliation, disability, age, and nationality and their identities based on these categories and the significant differentials of power and privilege involved. We recognize that this is a complex task, as our GASi membership continues to be predominantly white, western, middle class, middle aged, Eurocentric, professional and privileged, which may readily alienate those who do not share all of these characteristics. This should therefore require us consistently and rigorously to reflect on our unconscious assumptions about ourselves and others from whom we are different, especially those less advantaged or privileged than ourselves.

26.62% voted for this statement: 
GASi exists to provide opportunities for the international exchange of ideas and experience, in pursuit of the development of Group Analytic theory and practice. Group Analysis is rooted in the fundamentally social nature of people and we seek to understand and enrich the psychological, emotional and societal experience of individuals and groups, in clinical settings, and beyond. We want to be inclusive with participants from many and diverse backgrounds. We believe this enriches us all. As such, we are committed to providing welcoming meeting places for individuals, irrespective of their class, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, political affiliation, disability, age, appearance or other personal characteristics. In the context of group relating, we recognize this can be a complex task, which requires us consistently to reflect on the ways in which we relate to one another.

20.78% voted for this statement:
GASi exists to provide opportunities for the international exchange of ideas and experience, in pursuit of the development of Group Analytic theory and practice. Group Analysis is rooted in the fundamentally social nature of people and we seek to understand and enrich the psychological, emotional and societal experience of individuals and groups, in clinical settings, and beyond. We want to work towards being inclusive with participants from many and diverse backgrounds. We believe that this will enrich our work together, as failing to address issues of privilege, power relations and dominant culture will diminish our potential to be creative in our work together. As such, we are committed to offering welcoming meeting places for individuals, which recognize and respect their class, culture, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, political affiliation, disability, age, and nationality and their identities based on these categories and the significant differentials of power and privilege involved. In the context of group relating, we recognize that this can be a complex task, as our GASi membership continues to be predominantly white, professional and privileged, which may readily alienate those who do not share those characteristics. This should therefore require us consistently to reflect on our unconscious assumptions about ourselves and others from whom we are different, especially those less advantaged or privileged than ourselves.