Triangulation as splitting in the service of ambivalence

Ambivalence mastery is postulated as a primary dynamic in triangulation, by appealing to splitting and other defense mechanism strategies in synthesizing incompatible affect. The rationale of admissible triangles in balance theory is critically evaluated, and is elaborated in terms of directional vectors and the interpretation of the triangle as a transformed variant of the double bind. Using an illustrative case presentation where an adolescent was instrumental in forming a coalition with his father against an uncle, a theoretical model is developed reconceptualizing various family systems tenets and addressing inconsistencies in hypothesized mechanisms. Ambivalence is analyzed in terms of transference and as a prerequisite of triangulation, the role of the triangulated in relational stability is examined, and the dyad/triad evolution is elaborated. The model is then related to the basic theoretical positions in family systems literature.     

The "psychosomatic family" model: an empirical and theoretical analysis

Evolution of the Family Systems Paradigm has been constrained by the dichotomy between theory building and empirical research. This article integrates these two domains by presenting a theoretical analysis of the "psychosomatic family" model as it informs and is informed by an empirical research project. Forty families of children with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and functional recurrent abdominal pain syndrome (RAP) were rated during standard, videotaped family interaction tasks, lunch, and interview. Laboratory scores of disease activity were associated with triangulation, marital dysfunction, and total "psychosomatic family" scores. Disease activity was not significantly correlated with enmeshment, overprotection, rigidity, conflict avoidance, or poor conflict resolution. Thus, the marital/triangulation and enmeshment/overprotection/conflict clusters may be subcomplexes of the "psychosomatic family" complex. CD, UC, and RAP groups differed in the relations among particular family patterns and disease activity. A heuristic family-psycho-somatic model is presented to facilitate future research.     

Families of Youth Who Have Sexually Offended: Understanding Shared Experiences and Moving Towards a Typology

Theoretical frameworks like Family Systems and Ecological Theories that postulate youth development is shaped by interconnected and interdependent systems begets further inquiry into classifications of such systems. Developing family typologies of youth who commit sexual crimes may inform etiology, service approaches, and judicial responses. In collaboration with a state Sex Offender Management Board, this study analyzed the perspectives of treatment providers (N = 19) on families of youth who have committed sexual crimes. Using deductive coding strategies including hypothesis and elaborative coding; observer triangulation and inter-subjective agreement; constant comparison analyses; and other rigorous qualitative techniques, findings confirmed and expanded upon extant literature. Results revealed a spectrum of open and closed family systems and common experiences including distorted perceptions of sexuality, protection of the family system, and other contextual influences. Findings are integrated with the theoretical frameworks and recommendations are offered to improve practices and typological research.     

Bowen Family Systems Theory and Spirituality: Exploring the Relationship Between Triangulation and Religious Questing

In order to advance the literature on the integration of Bowen family systems theory and spirituality, the relationship between triangulation and religious questing was examined. A positive relationship between differentiated functioning and religious questing was hypothesized. Contrary to the expected relationship, results indicated that greater triangulation predicted greater questing. In addition, a significant quadratic relationship between triangulation and existential questioning was found. The findings may offer a clarification of the process of differentiating a self in triangulated systems, where moderate levels of spiritual exploration and seeking may be a means of gaining space for self. It is suggested that questing behavior may help individuals achieve increased self-differentiation.     

The Self‐Ambivalence Measure: A psychometric investigation

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Self‐Ambivalence Measure and its subscales developed by Bhar and Kyrios. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the measure were examined utilising a non‐clinical sample of 415 participants who completed self‐report measures of aspects of the self. Results indicated that the Self‐Ambivalence Measure exhibited levels of internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity, warranting its use in further research. In contrast to earlier research finding a two‐factor structure, a three‐factor structure was found to best fit the current sample and the factors were labelled Self‐Worth Ambivalence, Moral Ambivalence, and Public Self‐consciousness. This solution separated internal aspects of self‐ambivalence from social aspects which were conceptualised as an aspect of lovability. A discussion of implications is provided.     

Material, Myth, and Magic: A Cultural Approach to Family Therapy

This paper presents a model for a therapeutic approach to the cultural systems of families. Using anthropologically derived concepts of material and ideational planes of culture, magic, and ritualistic intervention, the inducement of culture change in frozen familial systems is framed in dialectical terms. Four brief case studies are presented describing the systems engaged, the material-ideational rituals employed, and the cultural transformations induced. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some of the theoretical and practical implications of this cultural approach to the family in therapy.     

Intergenerational Transmission: Individuation and Intimacy Across Three Generations

This study examined the transmission of intergenerational family processes across three generations, employing Williamson's construct of Personal Authority in the Family System (PAFS) as a theoretical back-drop. From a PAFS perspective, psychological health is viewed as directly related to the degree of individuation and intimacy (PAFS) experienced within the family of origin. Overall, the results provided a degree of support for the intergenerational transmission hypothesis. The strongest predictor of the transmission process was from the participant/parent relationship to the participant/spouse relationship (spousal fusion/individuation). Separate male and female analyses of the Spousal Fusion/Individuation model found a moderate effect for females and a large effect for males. A small effect was found in predicting nuclear family triangulation from parent and spouse variables, although there was no gender effect. The findings suggest that degree of individuation and its related constructs are more critical in the transmission process than is intimacy.     

Application of The Assimilation Model in The Context of Family Therapy: A Case Study

In this case study the aim was to apply the APES (Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale) model to the analysis of the family therapeutic treatment process. This was done as a qualitative methodological triangulation in a case of the family of a 10-year old psychotic boy. The study suggests that assimilation model is suitable for many kinds of data in analyzing family therapeutic treatment processes, makes the change more comprehensible, and yields information about the effectiveness of experiential family therapy techniques.     

亲子三角关系的性别差异

亲子三角关系指父母发生冲突时,子女主动或被动卷入其中而形成的不平衡的“父亲—子女—母亲”三角关系,通常包括代罪羔羊、亲职化和跨代联盟三大类型,与儿童青少年的内外化行为问题等密切关联。在有关亲子三角关系的发生特点及其影响是否具有性别一致性的问题上,既有研究结论尚存在分歧。这可能与人口学变量的差异和性别角色观念的变迁等因素有关。国内大陆在该领域的研究近乎为零。未来需通过开展本土研究,细化人口学变量和综合运用多种测量方法与指标,采用追踪设计等厘清该问题。     

From interactions to mental representations: Psychodynamic parent – infant therapy in a case of severe eating and sleep disorders

This paper describes the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy with an infant and his family, during a developmental phase in which the infant's mental organization was in transition from the level of interactions to representations. The treatment of a 23-month-old boy suffering from a severe sleeping and eating disorder was initiated in a parent?–?child psychotherapeutic setting. The sleep disorder was a consequence of separation anxiety. Additionally, phobic avoidance of new oral experiences led to an eating disorder. These symptoms had developed in the context of dysregulation of the triadic family relationships (mother?–?father?–?children), which tended to split into two-plus-one relationships. After one year, the setting was changed to alternating individual and family sessions. Due to his developing symbolic capacities, the boy was able to express his inner concerns and his internalised affect-laden experiences through play and actions. His internal world could now be addressed by interpretations. New psychodynamic theories and research results on early triadic development were taken as the theoretical background for the psychotherapeutic work. We understood the course of the treatment and the development of the transference/countertransference relationships in terms of processes of triadification (at the level of interpersonal relationships) and triangulation (at the level of intrapsychic representations).     

Construct asymmetry and the range of relevance of personal anticipations

This paper analyses the logical structure of personal construct systems in terms of relations of partial entailment between constructs and the relative frequencies of positive and negative judgments concerning both self and others. It is argued that conditional hypotheses (‘anticipations’) which incorporate the positive poles of constructs (e.g. happy) as antecedent terms will have wider ranges of relevance, on average, if self is assigned to the positive poles of those constructs. Conversely, hypotheses with antecedents based on the negative poles of constructs (e.g. sad) will tend to have wider ranges of relevance when self is assigned to their negative poles. Some theoretical implications of these relationships for the adaptability of personal construct systems are elaborated.     

The Divine Triangle: God in the Marital System of Religious Couples

Incoporating both Bowenian and structural approaches, this article offers a constructivist view for dealing with religious belief systems of couples. After exploring the evolving process by which couples mutually define an ongoing triadic relationship with their Deity, different triangular processes from an integrated structural and Bowenian perspective are presented. This view is evaluative in terms of the triangulation process rather than the belief systems themselves, and, as such, it can be useful in marital therapy regardless of the religious beliefs of the therapist. Implications for marital therapy are examined.     

Ambivalence and defense: effects of a repressive style on normal adolescents' and young adults' mixed feelings.

Ambivalence has been associated in theoretical works with psychopathology and with defenses against conflict. Ambivalence was operationalized as mixed feelings. Seventy-five 9th graders (27 boys and 48 girls), 50 12th graders (19 men and 31 women), and 80 Yale University undergraduates (38 men and 42 women) completed questionnaires assessing ambivalence, psychopathological symptoms, and repressive and nonrepressive styles. Compared with nonrepressive subjects, repressive subjects at all grade levels reported lower levels of mixed feelings and relatively less uncertainty about their feelings. Whereas the absence of felt anxiety was sufficient for lower self-reported psychopathological symptoms, a repressive style was necessary for lower self-reported ambivalence.     

Psychometric properties of the Psychosocial Risk Evaluation Battery for medium and small companies

The assessment of the presence and intensity of psychosocial risks is constant in research into Work Psychopathology. Many questionnaires and diagnosis systems are partial or else there is no standardization process or reliability and validity study. The main purpose of this work is to present the psychometric data of a multidimensional system to assess psychosocial risks, elaborated conjointly by the Universitat of Barcelona and the MC Mutual. This battery assesses companies, using information from the prevention technicians, the directive staff and the workers. With the diverse types of information, a triangulation proposal is established to offer a psychosocial risk profile linked to the evaluation needs.     

The Science and Typology of Family Systems II. Further Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Family systems are conceptualized as stable, but open, control systems characterized by: (a) formal organization, similar in principle to that of other complex, organic systems — physical, cognitive ( 11 ), or social; (b) freedom of action, reserved for human, "purposefu" systems ( 1 ). These characteristics are linked to auto-regulatory processes mediated by morphostasis ( 16 ), which insures systemic stability, and morphogenesis ( 16 ), which enables the system to change in accordance with the demands of intra- and extra-systemic reality. The latter two concepts, earlier used to construct a typology of family systems ( 19 ), are here further theoretically elaborated and operationally defined ( 1 ). Morphostasis is tied to the system's: (a) behavioral structure, embodied in a network of ground rules and meta-rules, as defined, and organized according to a principle of hiearchical linkage; (b) behavioral functioning, regulated by rule circuits in accordance with a principle of functional linkage. Morphogenesis is conceptualized as a serial, decision-making, change-producing process, dependent on specified, necessary, and sufficient conditions for its occurrence. The role of pragmatic, perceptual meanings ( 1 ) and of biological/experiential and conscious/unconscious factors in the system's auto-regulation are considered, as well as research approaches to some of these problems. The implications of the present theoretical rationale for the systematic testing and clinical use of the published family system typology ( 19 ) and for some more general issues concerning psychological theory, as well as the modern Western family and society, are discussed.     

Sociological practice: Problems,theory, and methods

Recent developments in sociological practice are reviewed in terms of methodological, theoretical, and paradigmatic responses to the ill-structured or unstructured policy problems confronting private or public organizations. Methodologically, sociological practice is responding with the use of mixed methods or triangulation, in diagnosing policy problems as well as evaluating policy programs. Theoretically, the cognitive mapping of unstructured problems occurs increasingly in terms of multivariate conceptual models, usually in a graphic presentation. At a paradigmatic level, these two trends open the way to a clinical approach in sociological practice. In the clinical paradigm, improving the program is an inherent part of the method. Mark van de Vall is professor of sociology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam and adjunct professor at SUNY/Buffalo. He is president of Research Committee #26: Sociotechnics-Sociological Practice, of the International Sociological Association.     

The role of goal categories in person impression

After being primed by family terms, or by socially neutral terms, female subjects were provided with characteristics of several women. The characteristics described a target woman in a mother/wife role or in a career woman role and were related to goals, or to means-to-goals typical for these roles. In two studies it appeared that charccteristics with goals, as opposed to means-to-goals information resulted in a better memory for the input (Study 1) and in more elaborated and confident impressions (Study 2). This finding was strongest when there was a congruence between the priming and the characteristics, i.e., when family priming was followed by the family relevant characteristics. The data supported the hypothesis that mental representations structuring the formation of impressions in natural contexts have an action-oriented character, with actor's goal categories as the dominant elements.     

The network perspective: an integration of attachment and family systems theories

In this article we discuss the network paradigm as a useful base from which to integrate attachment and family systems theories. The network perspective refers to the application of general systems theory to living systems, and provides a framework that conceptualizes the dyadic and family systems as simultaneously distinct and interconnected. Network thinking requires that the clinician holds multiple perspectives in mind, considers each system level as both a part and a whole, and shifts the focus of attention between levels as required. Key epistemological issues that have hindered the integration of the theories are discussed. These include inconsistencies within attachment theory itself and confusion surrounding the theoretical conceptualizations of the relationship between attachment and family systems theories. Detailed information about attachment categories is provided using the Dynamic Maturational model. Case vignettes illustrating work with young children and their families explore the clinical implications of integrating attachment data into family therapy practice.