SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
What are theories?
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Ways of conceptualizing behaviors, relationships, and problems
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Represents your worldview – your way of making sense out of things
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Ideas and concepts which form the basis for the various models which we study
and use
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Philosophical approach to therapy, relationships, and problems
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Why are they important?
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Your “house” is built upon one or more theoretical approaches
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How you choose to intervene and provide therapeutic services are guided by your
particular philosophical understandings
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Your choice(s) of model(s) will be informed by your theoretical underpinnings
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Therapy requires a strong understanding of theories
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Helps you meet the client’s needs
•
Is required for passing the national exam
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
How many theories are there?
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That’s a great question
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That depends upon who you ask
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There are ways to conceptualize these theories into various categories
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Ingoldsby et al. (2004) highlighted 9 theories related to families
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Strategic
Structured
Experiential
Behavioral
Intergenerat
ional
Centers
MRI, HaleyMadanes
Institute, Institute
for Family Studies,
Ackerman
Institute
Philadelphia Child
Institute
Big Sur
Univ of Oregon
Georgetown
Family Center
People
Jackson,
Watzlawick, Haley,
Madanes,
Palazzoli
Minuchin
Satir and Whitaker
Weiss
Bowen
Assumption
s about
problem
Communication
problems;
problem solving
problems; stuck
Change over time;
structural
imbalances;
internal/external
factors
Interactions
shaped by other
experiences; need
for validation;
failure to connect
Learning; negative
reinforcement;
coercive cycles
Intergenerational;
emotional
systems of family;
emotional
imbalances in
family
Change
Disrupt cycle; get
unstuck
ID system level of
problem; learn
new patterns
Challenge
assumptions;
confrontation and
feeling
Positive
reinforcement;
reciprocal
reinforcement
Safely handle
feelings; use
extended family
Techniques
Paradox; reframe;
letters
Joining;
enactments; crisis
Sculpting
Goal setting;
Behavior tracking
Coaching;
Genogram
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
This is the basic format for what you might want to include in your own chart.
This will help you track the various models and the significant data related to
each.
Theory
Theory
Theory
Theory
Theory
Centers
People
Assumption
s about
problem
Change
Techniques
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Tonight we will discuss general systems theory because it is the foundational core of
much of the rest of family systems theory
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
General systems theory
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Derived from the work of Bertalanffy
•
Viewed the world from a biological perspective
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Attempted to give meaning to how biological systems operate
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Teaches us that the whole is greater than the parts
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Components are interdependent (change in 1 causes change in others)
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AKA: Systems theory, Open systems theory, Systemic theory
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
General systems theory
Systems theory was proposed in the 1936 by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy, and further
developed by Ross Ashby. von Bertalanffy was both reacting against reductionism and
attempting to revive the unity of science. He emphasized that real systems are open to, and
interact with, their environments, and that they can acquire qualitatively new properties
through emergence, resulting in continual evolution. Rather than reducing an entity (e.g. the
human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g. organs or cells), systems theory
focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a
whole (cf. holism). This particular organization determines a system, which is independent of
the concrete substance of the elements (e.g. particles, cells, transistors, people, etc).
Thus, the same concepts and principles of organization underlie the different disciplines (physics,
biology, technology, sociology, etc.), providing a basis for their unification. Systems concepts
include: system-environment boundary, input, output, process, state, hierarchy, goaldirectedness, and information.
An information system is an example of the interaction of multiple elements as envisioned by GST.
Source: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SYSTHEOR.html
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
General systems theory
All systems have common elements. These are:
input
output
throughput or process
feedback
control
environment
goal
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Term
Definition
Examples
Input
The material/information
transformed by the system
Information; digital
input; analog input
Throughput The process used to make sense of
input
Thinking, planning,
decision making
Output
The results of the input and
throughput
Family decisions
Feedback
Information received regarding
output
Negative feedback;
positive feedback
Subsystem
A 2nd system within a system
Parental system
Closed
system
Fixed relationships – not open to
outside influence
Enmeshed families
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Term
Definition
Examples
Open
system
Interacts with surroundings and
outside influences
Family with healthy
boundaries
Boundary
Differentiates one system from
another
Hierarchy;
parents/children
Negentropy Tendency toward homeostasis
Develop rules to return
to normalcy
Entropy
Tendency toward chaos
Dysfunctional families;
addicted families
Equifinality
End result can be reached by
various means
Decision on resolving
conflict in marriage
Cybernetics The ways in which systems operate
Closed/open/feedback
loops
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Term
Definition
Examples
Homestasis
Normal state of a system
Family faces conflict and
returns to a balanced
system
Negative
Feedback
Homeostatic maintainer- Behavior
that restores system to a comfort
range
Child individuates and is
punished – remains
enmeshed
Positive
Feedback
Pro-change behavior that upsets
equilibrium beyond thresholds of
accustomed behaviors
Teenager challenges
authority and results in
rules changes
1st Order
Change
Change that occurs within a system
that itself remains unchanged
Change within an
individual
2nd Order
Change
Change that alters the system itself
Addicted family enters
into recovery
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
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SYSTEMS THEORY STUDY GROUP
Resources
http://quizlet.com/2873390/new
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