Enhancing Group Effectiveness through creating and maintaining a ‘Reflective Space’
T. Martin Ringer
Socio-Analysis 3,2: 2001 (85-108)
GenAi, democracy under threat, pandemic, climate change, fake media and the great resignation. We live in challenging times. For the next three months we are looking at the importance of potential space or reflective space in creating a place where we can think about and make sense of some of the challenges that we are facing in contemporary society. Martin Ringer. ‘Enhancing group effectiveness through creating and maintaining a "reflective space" ‘. (Socio-Analysis, 3 (2), 2001, pages 85-108). Martin Ringer highlights the importance of reflective space in facilitating the effective functioning of groups. The author explores why reflective spaces are important and what is needed to create and maintain them. Issues such as secure containment and effective linking are identified as important to helping to build reflective spaces.
Explore these ideas in greater depth at the Socioanalysis reading group.
Socioanalysis
Socioanalysis is an international journal about groups, organisations and society from the systems psychodynamic perspective. Its role is to provide opportunities for practitioners and scholars to connect with each other, contribute to the field of systems psychodynamics and promote new ideas and opportunities to explore themes that emerge in groups and society.
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Papers can include, for example, group, organisational and societal case studies and/or research, theoretical expositions and critiques, consultancy and educational interventions, methodological papers and literature reviews. Reviews of books relevant to the field are also welcomed.
Socioanalytic theory and practice studies conscious and unconscious dynamics in groups, organisations and society. The emotional experience of people in their roles is fundamental to socioanalytic perspectives. Group Relations is a theoretical and practical stance towards discovering group, inter-group and institutional dynamics. It relies on systems and psychodynamic thinking and practice and uses data from the here-and-now experience of participants and staff in group relations conferences. Systems psychodynamics originates in the fields of systems thinking, group relations theory and psychoanalysis. This approach is an in-depth way to gain an understanding of why certain dynamics, processes and structures exist within groups and society. Examples include racism, sexism, bullying and corruption. Dynamics include power, authority and accountability, to name a few.
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Call for papers
The editorial board is calling for papers.
Volume 27, Issue 1. January 2026
Please submit papers by March 1, 2025
Special Edition
On the Edge of War – Socioanalytic Explorations.
Olya Khaleelee & Halina Brunning – Guest Editors
This issue of the journal calls for papers examining aspects of global unrest described and explained from psychoanalytic, system psychodynamic, and socio-analytic perspectives. It will focus on sources and reasons for such global unrest.
At the time of writing there are over 30 active conflicts taking place on most of the continents, of which only the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel Gaza war are brought prominently into focus. There is the possibility that everything worked for since World War 2 which has given peace, security, and prosperity could be lost. Apart from intra- and inter- country military conflict, there is now cyber warfare. The recent global Internet outage is evidence of our vulnerability and dependence on technology. From a political perspective we can see how the new and growing formation of BRICS i.e. the economic alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa is forming an economic bloc against the West and particularly against the power of the dollar and behind that, against the might of the USA. In addition, intensifying proxy wars already herald the start of World War three with a generation of young and mature men and women being slaughtered on the battlefield.
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