Introduction
In the current era, humans often perceive themselves as autonomous from their families and that their behavior is independent of them. However, psychiatrists like Murray Bowen do not agree with that idea. Bowen proposed a theory that views individuals as their families’ parts because it is an emotional unit. From that perspective, its members are interdependent and interconnected and, thus, cannot be perceived separately from one another.
Discussion
Murray believed that families represent systems where each person has their role and crucial rules. From that perspective, families should interact with each other in accordance with their role defined by relationship agreements (GenoPro, n. d.). Inside the boundaries of that system, patterns appear, since a specific member’s conduct is motivated by and motivates other ones’ behaviors in foreseeable ways. Although maintaining the same behavioral patterns causes balance in the system, it may lead to dysfunction as well.
Bowen’s family system theory encapsulates eight concepts, some of them being the societal emotional process, emotional cutoff, and family projection process. The first one, along with the others, may be used for non-family groups as well and it demonstrates society’s behavioral operation (BetterHelp Editorial Team, 2022). Society’s expectations have a great influence on families, said expectations being related to gender, class, or race. The second concept is when a person decreases or removes any emotional contact with their family members, which does not fix the issue, according to Bowen. Finally, the third concept reflects how dependent a child is raised to be on their family relationships.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Bowen’s family system theory depicts individuals as a part of a family due to it being an emotional unit. This means that its members depend on each other and are interconnected. The theory consists of eight concepts, with some of them being emotional cutoff, family projection process, and societal emotional process. The first is the act of removing or decreasing emotional contact with a family. The second concept relates to how dependent a child is raised to be on family relationships. Finally, the last one refers to society’s behavioral operation and its expectations affecting a family unit.
References
BetterHelp Editorial Team (2022). Introduction to Murray Bowen family systems theory – The eight family theories defined | BetterHelp online therapy 2022. BetterHelp | Professional Therapy With A Licensed Therapist. Web.
GenoPro. (n. d.). Family systems theory. Genogram Software – GenoPro. Web.