13 Apr 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class 3: April 9
General System
Theory
● Gregory Bateson (1940) developed general system theory
○ Way to study and think about families functioning as
organized units, rather than just a group of individuals
● Von Bertalanffy (1960’s): simple machines, jet engines, amoebas,
human brain
○ All share attributes of a system
● The idea that an organized group of parts forms a complex whole
○ That is more than the sum of its parts
● “There are no individuals in the world, only fragments of families”
○ Carl Whitaker
Systematic
Thinking
● People's lives are interwoven
○ Family members behaviors become mutually influential
● Challenges role of “scapegoat” in a family
○ Takes into account multiple influences
● Individuals are systems within systems
○ Nichols & Schwartz, 2006
● “The behavior of every individual within the family is related to and
dependent upon the behavior of all the others. All behavior is
communication and therefore influences and is influenced by
Others”
○ Watzlawick, Beavin, & Jackson, p. 134, 1967
●
Family as a
System
● What are some rules and roles that shape your family system?
○ Covert and Overt
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