Systems Theory & My Family

THIRD POST: CHOOSE A THEORY FROM CHAPTER 3 TO USE IN ANALYZING MY FAMILY

Text: Family Communication Cohesion and Change by Galvin, Bylund, Brommel; 8th edition, quotes and page references are from this text.

The Systems Perspective: “When individuals form families, they also create family systems through their interaction patterns.” (57) Basically, this theory claims that the events in each person’s life affect all the others in the system.

Example: My aunt died last week. For me to drive home and attend the funeral on Friday, my husband had to take the day off, my daughters flew with their grandmother to be with their cousin who had just lost his mother, my sons had to miss homeschool co-op… just physical effects. There is also the ripple effect; my family’s loss was added to the prayer list at church which in turn affected the emotions of those closest to me. My oldest son was supposed to give a presentation last Friday, but missed it. He will have to try and get an extension from his teacher so he can still present his project. The drive home used up a large chunk of our fuel budget for the month, so we will have to rearrange the rest of our months scheduled activities or we will have to rearrange our budget.

One event effects the entire system.

Some specifics in the Systems Theory for Family Communication include

·         Interdependence “…parts are so interrelated as to be dependent on each other for their functioning.” (59)

·         Wholeness as in we are seen as a unit; made up of individual parts, but a whole unit. This is one of the reasons I chose this theory – my family is incomplete if one person is missing – the whole dynamic of our family interactions changes drastically if just one person is gone. Additionally, the theory suggests that those outside the family see it as a whole unit such that if one person has a strong characteristic it may represent the whole family. This is particularly true for the family of a Vicar/Pastor – we are the Vicar’s family, the Vicar’s wife, the Vicar’s kids. I don’t mind being introduced as “Corinne, our Vicar’s wife,” but it does exemplify the point made in this theory; while I am certainly viewed as an individual, much of my identity is tied to my husband’s work.

·         Patterns/Self-Regulation “Human beings learn to coordinate their actions, creating patterns together that could not be created individually.” (61) This theory suggests that we work towards maintaining the stability of predictable patterns of behavior, a process called calibration. A family works like a machine, according to this theory, such that if an individual behaves outside of the predictable pattern, the others provide feedback to push the individual back towards the pattern. At the same time, one individual can change their behavior intentionally to try to manipulate the others into changing the overall pattern.

·         Interactive Complexity/Punctuation “When you function as a member of an ongoing relational system, each of your actions serves as both a response to a previous action and a stimulus for a future action.” (63) Basically, the theory says that our family unit is so intertwined that it is futile to try and establish any kind of cause/effect relationships because our every action is both a cause and an effect.

·         Openness “Human systems include individuals, families, communities and societies that form nested layers.” (63) Using the example of my aunts funeral, the event caused a ripple effect into both our congregation, our church family who care for us and our homeschool co-op where our son missed his presentation deadline and I had to find a substitute for the class that I was supposed to teach.

·         Complex Relationships “In almost all cultures authority, respect, and power go to the older generation, and often to the males of that generation. Appropriate boundaries separate generations; when generational boundaries are blurred, confusion results…” (65) This is most certainly true in our family. Dad is in charge, then Mom, and sometimes an older sibling is given charge over a little for a short time of ‘babysitting’ wherein that older sibling is a surrogate authority.


From previous posts: My definition of family is "...small, kinship structured group whose primary function is the nurturing socialization of newborn children." (p.4) For more info, read Defining Family and my chosen family to analyze is described in the post titled My Family