The facts, the psychology and relationships are undeniable parts of humanity. But relational ethics highlights the importance of human solidarity and responsibility.
Relational ethics is the heart of the contextual approach. We need other persons and we need to be involved in strong relationships. Connectedness means: to be seen and to be known, which gives us sufficient freedom and self-confidence to be meaningful to others. The main source of connection lies in the family and especially in the connectedness with our parents. That gives us the convidence to connect with others. The fabric of the relationship is loyalty and the layer in which it can develop is justice.
Within therapy and social work, the contextual approach becomes more and more popular. Contextual workers try to mobilize the human desire for connectedness, in order to overcome disappointments and obstacles. Also, expectations and disappointments from previous generations are discussed when nessesary. The goal is to reconnect people with significant others and reastablish a healing dialogue. This dialogue creates freedom and trust, which is needed to be meaningful and to be able to carry responsibility for others in general, and for the future generation in particular. Thus, a revolving slate can be broken.
The contextual approach was developed by Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy (pictured) and can be applied to all those fields where the relationship between people is central: education, pastoral care, nursing, management, etc.