2.02: Family Systems Theory
- Page ID
- 194432
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Name | Description |
Emotional triangles | An emotional triangle represents the emotionally driven relationship process that is present in all families. It describes the emotional dynamics between any two or all members of the triangle. |
Differentiation of self | We are emotionally connected to our families, and those emotions impact our family dynamics. Differentiation of self indicates that we are autonomous in our own emotional functioning. |
Nuclear family | The nuclear family provides a symbolic image of the family at the nucleus, the center, of the emotional system. In times of marital conflict, dysfunction of a spouse, emotional distancing, or conflict over child rearing, that nucleus is threatened. |
Family projective process | The child is the focus of this key tenet of Bowen’s Family Systems Theory. When there is an intense focus on the child, they may not be given the tools or space to grow, think, feel, and act for themself. |
Multi-generational transmission process | Multi-generational transmission process refers to how generations of families teach or role model emotional intensity. This key tenet asks us to consider how each generation offers greater or lesser levels of differentiation of emotional intensity within the nuclear family. |
Emotional cut-off | Emotional cut-off describes our need for personal space and distance from emotional intensity. |
Sibling position | Personality characteristics fit within the sibling position in which a person grows up. |
Societal emotional process | Our emotions influence our cognitive systems and behaviors which, in turn, impact our interactions with others. The societal emotional process describes that relationship within society and amongst each other. |
In order to assess patterns of adjustment in families that have resettled into a new country, we must examine the structure of the family unit and the processes that occur within that family system.
For example, one 2008 study collected data from parents and their children who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam and Cambodia to assess the role of family processes in disagreements over cultural values. The researchers found that cultural clashes were linked to parent-child conflict, which in turn was linked to reduced parent-child bonding, both of which increase adolescent behavioral problems (Lang).