Family Systems
A Journal of Natural Systems Theory in Psychiatry and the
Sciences
Back Issues
Contents of Family Systems Volume 6, Number 2
ARTICLES
Observations of Reciprocal Functioning in a Challenging Environment
Patricia A. Comella, JD
pp. 101-116
Having an operational knowledge of reciprocal functioning is essential to understanding the dynamics of such diverse relationship phenomena as leadership in the workplace or the field observation of other species. With that in mind, this paper chronicles the process of collecting, interpreting, and validating observations of the author’s own functioning in an emotionally challenging relationship system where missteps had the potential to have significant adverse impacts on the well-being of herself and her spouse. It documents an eleven-month period in the author’s life when she was finally able to operationalize the concept of reciprocal functioning and make understanding of that concept part of her core knowledge about relationship processes. The process by which she achieved this breakthrough is the subject of this paper. Since that breakthrough, the author has been able to apply her insights about reciprocal functioning with predictably reliable results in many and varied workplace relationships.
The Action Dialogue in an Intense Relationship: The Study of a Schizophrenic Girl and Her Mother
Robert H. Dysinger, MD
pp. 117-134
Addressing Cutoff in Residential Care of Disturbed Adolescents
Roberta M. Gilbert, MD
pp. 135-146
In our society, it is customary to remove children with severe emotional or social problems from the home of parents who are abusive or neglectful. Medication, psychotherapy for parents and child, and residential treatment are the usual forms of intervention. Contact between parent(s) and child is restricted. Rarely is the functioning of the family emotional system addressed. Rarely are the problems in the child seen as a function of the relationships in the family. The author consulted to a residential facility for disturbed adolescent girls and reports here on dramatic improvements in the girls after she implemented ideas from Bowen theory that encourage contact with family to reduce emotional cutoff and improve functioning.
BRIEF REPORTS
Unravelling the Complexity of Child-Focus
Margaret Donley, LCSW
pp. 147-160
How family processes contribute to the development of symptoms in children is a complex and compelling puzzle for even the most seasoned family therapists. Although most family therapies acknowledge the influence the family has on the development of children, how this influence actually occurs remains unclear to many who work and study in the field.
Bowen family systems theory looks at how the family as an emotional unit influences individual development and relationship functioning. Although the scope of the theory extends far beyond an examination of symptoms in children, it does provide a theoretical road map to understand how some families function in ways that inadvertently contribute to limitations in their children. For the most part, these processes operate at a level outside the parents’ awareness.
Bowen family systems theory uses the term “child-focus” process to describe one way that family processes operate to undermine the functioning of children. The child-focus process is not one process but rather an accumulation of a certain set of conditions that can operate within a family. This paper will identify and describe the conditions that exist within a family to promote the child-focus process.
Estate Planning and Family Relationships: A Commentary on an Estate Distribution Method
Ann D. Bunting, PhD
pp. 161-169
The author was motivated to write this article for three reasons. The first was to inform people that there is a fair and objective method of distributing the physical assets of an estate that might be of interest to executors. The second was to demonstrate that a level of thoughtfulness and careful planning on the part of one family member can make a difference to the functioning of the family as a whole. The third was to emphasize how the basic tenets of Bowen theory can help people negotiate their way through the many relationship challenges inherent in predictable as well as unexpected life events.
FACULTY CASE CONFERENCE Caring for Aging Parents
Presenter: Douglas C. Murphy, MA, LCMFT
pp. 171-181
This clinical case report is based on a presentation at the Faculty Case Conference held in June 2001. Identifying data has been altered to protect confidentiality. This presentation discusses specific difficulties encountered by one adult offspring in caring for his aging parents who are declining in functioning, and the course of consultation around the presented difficulties.
Aging and the decline in functioning leading up to death are part of the natural process of all living beings. Bowen family systems theory speaks specifically to the factors that manifest variability in the course of these processes for individuals and the variability of responsiveness to these processes by members of the family emotional system.
Book Reviews
Side by Side Leadership
Dennis A. Romig
reviewed by Michael H. Quinn, PhD
pp. 182-185
Emotional Contagion
Elaine Hatfield, John T. Cacioppo, and Richard L. Rapson
reviewed by John F. Butler, PhD
pp. 186-191
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