Family Systems Theory

Features of Family Systems Theory

Family systems theory emerged from general systems theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968; Weiner, 1948) by scholars who discovered it had many applications to familial and other social systems. While general systems theory has been used as a paradigm for explanation across academic disciplines, family systems theory is specifically useful for understanding family behavior and adjustment. Seminal thinkers, including Bateson, Ackerman, and Haley, were first to adapt certain tenets of general systems theory to the conceptualization and treatment of the family system. Their endeavors were decidedly successful, as systems-oriented perspectives drove much of theory and practice in family therapy by the 1980s. The family systems framework has been used most extensively as a therapeutic paradigm for the assessment and treatment of families (e.g., Kerr & Bowen, 1988; Minuchin, 1974). The family systems framework proposes that the whole, that is, the family, is different from the sum of its parts, that is, the individuals who compose the family. Specifically, this framework focuses on the interdependence, as opposed to the independence, of family members (Klein & White, 1996). The family is depicted as a single emotional unit comprising inter-locking relationships existing across multiple generations. As a result, the framework moves beyond a cause-and-effect interpretation of intrafamily behavior to a more exhaustive understanding of the multiple [Page 454]variables that interact across time to produce conflicts or symptoms.

Two basic elements of systems theory translate into the fundamental elements of family systems theory: recursion and feedback (Klein & White, 1996). Recursion refers to reciprocal causality. A systems perspective is unconcerned with causality between A and B; instead, the focus is on the reciprocal relationship between A and B. In regard to families, meaning is derived from the relationship between individuals and elements as each influences and defines the other. Each family system possesses a complex coherence structure predicated on the interrelatedness of members. Inherent in the systems perspective is the notion that a change in any one family member reverberates throughout the entire family system. “A change to one is a change to all” stands as a central maxim of family systems theory.

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