Essay on Family Systems Theory Bowen Related to My Life

Family systems theory describes how the translation and emotional interdependence among members affect the personality and life choices of an individual.

Have you wondered why you were happy as a child when your begetter got a promotion? Did you lot only follow the cue that you needed to exist happy? No, you actually were happy. Yous saw your mom and dad were happy and their happiness in some class touched you as well. Yous might not take realized the potential benefits that your father's increased income could be on your lifestyle; all you lot tin can remember is how happy the house seemed.

Family systems theory explains why you felt happy when you lot did. Information technology too explains why you are and then different from your siblings. It too helps y'all understand why you enjoy spending time with some members while yous stay abroad from others. This theory answers all the questions you may have virtually your thinking, your relationships and everything in between. The family unit systems theory relates to the translation and interdependence of family members' emotional states onto other members of the family unit, which means that a family is a unit of measurement and a single member cannot exist studied independently without the other members beingness considered.

Translation of Emotions (Photo Credit : magic pictures/ Shutterstock)

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The Emotional Skin

Dr. Bowen, who first proposed this theory, states that interdependence and connection amid a family is a very deep-rooted trait, ane that can exist traced back to cavemen. While we were hunters and gatherers, we formed this connexion due to the mutual needs of food and shelter.

This means that the feelings of every single person create ripples that affect the whole family unit equally a unit. This holds truthful fifty-fifty when y'all think you don't have a great relationship with some members.

Simply put, a child in a loving and caring family progresses and a child is an abused or dysfunctional household might experience setbacks in his/her growth. Fifty-fifty though the interdependence varies for each unit of measurement, families have a profound effect on individuals, all of which shapes an individual's beliefs.

Aim of the Family unit Systems theory

Dr. Murray Bowen formulated this theory and its eight interlockings with the intention of helping people heal therapeutically with agile support from their families. Emotions are involved in almost all aspects of human interactions and these emotions are more or less influenced by family; therefore, it is the family'southward impact that helps heal the well-nigh. At that place are basically 8 different types of interdependence that can describe the emotional bonds of a family.

Types of families (Photograph Credit : TaLyDes/ Shutterstock)

Triangular system

This type of relationship is precariously counterbalanced one. Although meliorate than an unstable ii-person relationship, this organisation is also known to experience friction every at present and so.  Consider a group of three friends as a triangle

Triangulation in relationships

Max and Amy are closer to each other. John feels similar an outsider at times, merely in the case of conflicts, Amy often sides with John for back up, thus making Max the outsider. Here, the tension of the human relationship is shifted to Max and Amy's human relationship in the case of conflicts. This tension shifts to John and Max's relation if there is a disharmonize between them. At whatever given time, there are 2 relationships that balance the third alien one. This way, in a triangle, the side having tension continuously shifts among the three sides, thereby maintaining the overall balance.

Differentiation of self

Every person in a family is unique. In spite of being a role of the same unit, people develop their personalities differently based on their own perceptions. The manner and the depth of an individual'due south development define how dissimilar they are from the collective thinking of the family.

A person who has developed a strong sense of 'self' is not likely to requite up on their thoughts under the influence of a group. She/he would be at-home and level-headed in the face of conflicts or criticisms. Such a person can clearly empathize his/her dependence on the family but is also confident enough to take a stand up when necessary.

A person with a less developed sense of 'self' often has a higher regard for what the crowd thinks and therefore may try to please others. They are prone to exist self-conscious and under-confident. Differentiation of self relates more to an private'southward ability to maintain his/her ain originality without succumbing to exterior pressures.

The more interdependent a family is, the weaker the sense of 'cocky' that is present in the members.  This also means that issues of a unmarried person impact the whole family's stress levels.

Development of a sense of cocky (Photo Credit : NoDenmand/ Shutterstock)

Nuclear family emotional procedure

As the proper name suggests, this organization is divers peculiarly for nuclear families. A nuclear family includes single-parent as well as footstep-parent dynamics. This process is governed by four relationship aspects.

• Marital Conflict

When partners face conflicts outside the family, they tend to vent their frustrations on each other, which causes stress and anxiety.

• Dysfunction in one spouse

Spousal relationship is most balance and understanding between spouses, just when one of the partners becomes obsessive or critical about the other, a tense situation arises. The harmony is lost because one of the partners refuses to accommodate the other, which often leads to disharmonize and emotional stress.

• Damage of one or more than children

When a child develops some bad habit, parents often chide them, but if parents worry excessively and obsessively about one child, at that place are serious conflicts, causing the self-esteem and confidence of the kid under pressure to crumble. Oftentimes, the child may become a target for parents to vent their own frustrations on, which further complicates the situation.

• Emotional Distance

When a family unit is suffering from a crisis, members sometimes try to handle their anxieties past distancing themselves from some fellow member of the family unit, which creates voids. The distance gradually increases if matters are not sorted out at the onset and may change the family dynamic permanently.

People sometimes get away from their partners or parents in order to remove 'toxicity' of their life, without taking the effort to talk to the respective members which cause emotional stress to all the parties involved.

Family unit Projection Process

Parents may have emotional and mental stresses, which they often transmit to their children in some mode. This process follows 3 steps:

• The parent fears that the kid has some issue and therefore pays extra attention to that particular child in order to solve the 'feared' issue.
• The kid behaves in a fashion that confirms the parent's fear of the child having some consequence.
• The child is then treated by the parent as if there is actually an issue with the child.

Here, the main chore of scanning, diagnosing and treatment is all done by the parent due to their ain fear of the issue. The child may not fifty-fifty have any problem, only the constant fear of parents treating the kid in a sure way and he/she reacting in a certain way could confirm the alleged suspicion.

If a parent thinks that a kid lacks a certain quality that they deem essential, they may get out of their fashion to instill this quality, which breaks the natural process and makes the child severely dependent on parental guidance and encouragement. This ultimately leads to a child that has a lower adult sense of 'self'.

Translation of familial feet

Multi-generational Transmission Process

 The involvement of parents in a child'southward life, the response of the kid to the parent'south effort, and the conscious didactics of values by parents to their children tend to significantly touch on a child'southward 'differentiation of cocky'. The development of 'self' of a kid is similar to that of his/her parents, merely there are slight variations.

When the member marries, a person with a dissimilar sense of 'cocky' may enter the family,  and hence the offspring will be under the influence of two individuals. This will continue transitioning as the family grows, and then there is a larger difference in the 'differentiation of self' as generations progress.

For example, if a kid sees that his/her grandparents are held in contempt by their parents, the child may perceive this as normal. To a kid, this would exist the ideal mode to treat parents, and so he/she may develop a sense of 'cocky' that aligns with their parents' behavioral patterns and values. This behavior may bridge multiple generations!

The difference in the 'differentiation of self' affects various aspects of an individual, including health, educational activity, spousal relationship, and occupation.

Progression of generational hatred (Photo Credit: Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock)

Emotional Cutoff

Where at that place is a family unit, there are bound to be problems for various reasons that can put an emotional or mental strain on a person. To relieve this stress, people sometimes cull to cut off emotionally from the family unit or altitude themselves from some of the members. People may move out of the house or brainstorm a life in a distant place to be away from the pressure level. Whenever the member visits the family, old memories and issues resurface, which cause undercurrents that drive members of the family to abound tired.

Also, a person who has distanced themselves emotionally from the family may burden other relationships in guild to satisfy the emotional void. Such a person tries to form a family unit-similar bail with other people who may or may not reciprocate those sentiments. Additionally, in that location is extra pressure on his/her other relationships to make him/her feel complete.

Sibling Position

This theory was originally based on the research of psychologist Walter Toman, which was incorporated by Bowen in his 'family systems theory'.

According to this theory, the position of the siblings too plays a major role in the development of their' self'. The oldest sibling is more probable to be in the leadership position, while the youngest i is often the 'follower'. The middle one has characteristics of both, to some extent. There are also cases wherein the roles are reversed due to a unlike development of 'cocky'.

This position too affects other aspects of individuals, like their choices regarding marriage. The oldest sibling of a family unit married to the youngest one of another family will often work in harmony because they are two individuals who have had complementary roles in their respective families.

Similarly, if two spouses are the oldest in their respective families, there are chances of conflict, because both of them were leaders in their previous roles and therefore endeavour to presume the aforementioned role in their married life, which may oftentimes lead to conflicts and differences.

There is also a dissimilar evolution of 'self' when there are siblings of opposite genders and when at that place are siblings of the aforementioned gender. When a brother has a sis, he is comfortable beingness around a female presence, which might not exist the case had his sibling been a brother instead.

Influence of sibling position on relations (Photo Credit : SpicyTruffel/ Shutterstock)

Societal Emotional Procedure

The Bowen theory does not limit the development of an private to the family lone; there are also cultural and societal influences that touch on families, and the reaction of families to such changes shapes entire generations. While in that location are feet and tension in club as a whole, parents try to monitor children, but requite in to their demands to relieve the temporary stress.

These children and then larn to identify that their parents are in an uncertain position and go more and more than rebellious, which leads to an increment in crime rates, violence, divorce rates, etc. Such a situation leads to a menses of regression for social club as a whole. Conversely, when principled disciplinary action is taken by parents, there are periods of progression. Parents with a bottom developed sense of 'self' are more prone to allow their kids go away with acting out without correcting them.

Family systems theory helps individuals understand themselves while resolving their conflicts and gaining improve emotional interdependence. The whole family unit comes together to support a member. This theory is being used by physiologists all over the world to help people suffering from emotional setbacks.

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Source: https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/family-systems-theory.html

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