Relational Control Theory

Relational control theory focuses on how relational members interrelate with one another through their communication behaviors. The theory offers an interaction-based approach for studying the interwoven connection between communication and relationship. The basic tenets of this approach assume that communication is an interactive, constitutive process; that relationships are coconstructed; and that the relational dimension of control is basic for describing how relationships are structured. Given these premises, communication is seen as the process by which relationships are formed and shaped by the jointly produced patterns of control between the partners in the relationship. With this brief overview, the central features of the theory are further discussed and illustrated.

The development of relational control theory in the early 1970s coincided with the growing influence of system and cybernetic perspectives on the study of communication. It was also a time when Gregory Bateson's writings, first published in the 1930s, were being brought to light, most notably with the 1967 publication of the volume by Paul Watzlawick, Janet Beavin, and Don Jackson. The coalescence of these lines of thought brought new ways of thinking about communication and formed a foundation for the development of the relational control theory. System theory and [Page 834]cybernetics provided a general theoretical framework, with the more particular features of the theory based on the conceptual work of Bateson. These are discussed in turn.

System theory presents a worldview, not of singular events, but of the interrelatedness of events. The organizing principles of system theory focus on the interconnection and integration of the system component parts that form the larger systemic whole. Interdependency represents a fundamental quality of a system. In other words, it is the mutual influence of the interdependent member parts that creates a system, such that a system is more than, or at least different from, than the sum of its parts. The systemic perspective represents a shift in thinking from the study of action to the study of interaction, from the study of individual members to the study of their jointly constructed relationships.

Cybernetics is the study of system control processes with the concept of control referring to the regulative function of information exchange. Cybernetics focuses on how systems are regulated by the ongoing flow of feedback information occurring within the system. In reference to relational systems, the focus is on how systems are maintained, modified, and changed by the cycles of influence that emerge from and guide the members' ongoing communicative interactions. Based on cybernetic processes, a system is continually informing itself about itself through the feedback loops of messages exchanged among the system members.

From the beginning, system thinking was central to Bateson's theory of relationships. To capture the communication qualities of relationships, Bateson focused on identifying interaction patterns that in combination progressively moved toward a more complete description of the larger relational system. In addition, Bateson's approach for describing patterns rested on his conceptualization of the duality of message meaning. Bateson proposed that messages simultaneously offer two levels of meaning: content and relational meaning. The content level refers to referential information that indicates what the message is about, while the higher, relational level of meaning implies how the message is to be interpreted in terms of its implications for the relationship. For instance, the content of a message expressing that another person is always late refers to time, but the relational meaning is typically seen as an expression of disappointment or criticism of the other's lack of responsibility or concern. Content does matter, but the relational level of meaning always provides the context for understanding the content of a message, and the relational level is where members offer definitions of self in relation to other and simultaneously co-produce the patterns that characterize their relationship.

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