Chaos and designing social systems

Growing appreciation of work done in the past several decades in complexity science is changing how we see the world. Efforts to apply what has been learned there to human systems such as organizations, perhaps through metaphor, challenges our views of social structures and how we may influence their organization and functioning. This article considers the implications of some key propositions from chaos theory for the design of social systems.     

Notes for a cultural history of family therapy

The official history of family therapy describes its beginnings as a daring technical and philosophical departure from traditional individual treatment in the 1960s, inspired especially by the "system thinking" of Gregory Bateson. This celebrated origin story needs to be supplemented with a longer and larger history of both practice and thought about the family, and that is the subject of this article. The longer history goes back to the founding of social work by Mary Richmond, of pragmatism by William James, and of the organic view of social systems intervention by John Dewey. Seen against this background, family therapy is, among other things, a consequence of the development of persistent elements of American professional culture, experience, and philosophy. The taking of this historical-anthropological view discloses also the origins of two other histories that have made their contribution to the development of family therapy: a science of observing communication processes that starts with Edward Sapir and leads to contemporary conversation analysis, and a history of mesmerism in the United States that culminates in Milton Erickson and his followers.     

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.     

Family therapists in trauma-response teams: bringing systems thinking into interdisciplinary fieldwork

Attention to the mental health facets of disaster-preparedness and trauma-response teams has increased considerably over the past decade. As family therapists take part in these efforts, they bring with them a worldview that adds valuable contributions to the nature in which fieldwork is conducted and the manners in which interdisciplinary teams function on the ground. In this article, we present how systems thinking sensitizes trauma workers to a variety of clinical presentations and biopsychosocial complexities inherent in this work. We describe common clinical- and practice-related challenges, alongside practical strategies for effectively dealing with these challenges. We draw upon our experiences as family therapists trained in the field of trauma, and our work as field responders, supervisors and team leaders across a variety of local and large-scale disaster events and contexts.     

Embracing the other: Revisiting the epistemological foundations of family systems therapy

Family systems therapy originated in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s through the work of innovative thinkers and clinicians. However, despite the creative contributions of the mentioned colleagues and of later innovations in family therapy theory and practice, it seems as though the dominant culture of establishment psychiatry in the United States (and in most Western countries) to this day has not seriously incorporated relationships, social context, or community connectedness into the treatment of individuals with psychiatric diagnoses. For the “psychiatric” patients diagnosed according to the DSM-5, the dominant underlying epistemological perspective is the medical “scientific” paradigm. Within this approach there is a dearth of reflections about the truthfulness of so-called “empirical facts” and a lack of skepticism about the techniques of “measurement” of the psychiatric illness. The alternative, relationship-oriented, context-sensitive, and community-connected thinking paradigm is highlighted here in contrast to the “psychiatric” foundation. This paradigm consists of (a) the awareness that all human Subjects (including “psychiatric” clients) are constituted as such by their relational connection to others; (b) the awareness of our sensitivity to and embeddedness in a socio-economic, cultural, and racial context; and (c) the awareness of our involvement in and connectedness with many kinds of communities.     

A systems framework for understanding social settings

In this paper, we argue that attempts to change social settings have been hindered by lack of theoretical advances in understanding key aspects of social settings and how they work in a dynamic system. We present a systems framework for understanding youths' social settings. We focus on three aspects of settings that represent intervention targets: social processes (i.e., patterns of transactions between two or more people or groups of people), resources (i.e., human, economic, physical, temporal resources), and organization of resources (i.e., how resources are arranged and allocated). We postulate that these setting aspects are in dynamic transaction with each other, resulting in setting outcomes. Discussion focuses on the implications of our theoretical framework for setting intervention.     

Social evolution and the planetary crisis

This article provides perspective on today's planetary crisis by seeing it as a transition within the larger picture of human social evolution. There are certain ground qualities that were present at the beginnings of our social evolution—natural living, belonging, vitality, community, equality. Over the span of human history certain emergent qualities have developed to give us greater power in the world—technology, social organization, rational thinking. However, in developing these qualities we have suppressed the ground qualities, at the expense of our health and wholeness and now leading to a profound crisis. The next step in social evolution is to take conscious charge of our future by integrating the ground qualities with the emergent qualities. This model of social evolution helps to extend and deepen the concept of general evolution, giving us a broad view of our place in human and cosmic evolution.     

Rethinking levels of abstraction in family systems theories.

This article is an attempt to improve the way we conceptualize "levels" in family systems. The first section reframes thinking about levels by identifying an array of different ways of thinking about levels. The next section suggests a parsimonious frame-work for thinking about levels of abstraction in systemic processes. The proposed framework integrates several earlier ways of conceptualizing levels, and helps eliminate some of the confusion, inconsistencies, fragmentation, and limitations of some earlier models. The new framework has three categories that are called Levels I, II, and III. The most abstract level (III) includes phenomena such as family paradigms and values. The intermediate level includes processes such as second-order change, regime, and "meta" processes such as metacommunication and meta-rules. The least abstract level refers to specific processes such as transformation processes and rules. The article concludes with an attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework by showing how it can be used to eliminate a number of conceptual problems in earlier models, improve conceptual clarity, help generate new theoretical insights, and help deal with several controversies in the field.     

Using a Narrative Metaphor: Implications for Theory and Clinical Practice

The evolution of family therapy from a cybernetic metaphor to a narrative metaphor has led us to think differently about therapy, about clients, and about ourselves as therapists. In this article we pursue how this different way of thinking has informed a theoretical understanding of a narrative therapy approach and consequently has opened space for different ways of working clinically. We begin by tracing the evolution to narrative; we consider the implications of social constructionism and its political effects; and we complete the discussion by focusing on narrative theory. We then show how the clinical work follows logically and is coherent with the theoretical considerations. We describe, and illustrate with clinical examples, an innovative approach to working with couples and families with adolescents. In this work we pay attention to the larger cultural stories, including gender constructions, and to personal stories that persons have created to make meaning out of their experience as they interact with one another in a reciprocal meaning-making process. Interventions focus on externalizing the problem narrative that is influencing the client(s), mapping the effects of the problem pattern and/or the totalizing view persons might have of others, and creating space for client(s) to notice preferred actions and intentions. Finally, we close the loop by asking questions of ourselves and others about the effects of working from a narrative metaphor.     

The synergetic principles of nonlinear thinking

In order to develop further the methods of scenario building and to facilitate the paths towards a desirable and sustainable future, we cannot do without a nonlinear evolutionary thinking. The theory of self‐organization of complex systems, called also synergetics, is a scientific basis for such a thinking, the main principles of which are under consideration in the paper. Synergetics provides us with the knowledge of constructive principles of coevolution of complex social systems, coevolution of countries and geopolitical regions being at different stages of development, integration of the East and the West, the North and the South.     

The state of methods and tools for social systems change

The last decade or so has seen an increase in the rate of attention to systems change and the application of multiple theories to study and influence change in systems. This article considers how these theories, described in other articles in this issues, plus theories about complex adaptive systems open opportunities for us to continue to expand our repertoire of tools and methods to address systems change. These conceptual frameworks, tools, and methods are expected to help us increase our capacity to study and influence both planned and self-organizing systems change. New tools and methods have emerged and others are needed to help us continue to explore and influence the complex social systems within which we operate.     

Family psychology and family therapy in Japan

The development of family psychology and family therapy in Japan has occurred mostly since the 1980s. This development was originally activated by the major social issue in contemporary Japan of school refusal, in which more than 127,000 children either overtly refuse to or claim that they cannot go to school. From a family perspective, this problem is analyzed as it relates to the confusion that children experience from unbalanced and unclear boundaries in family relations or "membranes." An approach to family therapy that adapts systems theory and integrates a clay sculpting medium has been developed to work with Japanese families confronting this problem. The design and implementation of preventative family psychology programs applied at the community level are also an important part of the future development in these fields.     

Getting the social organism thinking: strategy for systems change

The ability of community researchers/practitioners to facilitate systems change is constrained by social power--particularly the capacity to shape ideology [S. Lukes (1974). Power: A radical view. Hampshire: MacMillan] and frequently power molds ideologies which undermine systems thinking. Following what Mills [C. W. Mills, (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press] (termed the "sociological imagination", this article makes the case for a strategy of systems change that promotes an integrated focus on systems and their constituent individuals. Both of these components are understood to continuously shape each other. The social imagination is introduced as a way to conceptualize the intersection between individuals' conceptions of systems and the ways that systems work to form individual identities and perceptions of social reality. Examples of attempts at systems change from community organizing and public health are used to illustrate both common fallacies and potential future directions for systems change efforts.     

Belief systems in administration and training

Belief systems are instruments for observing events, classifying information, communicating with others, and doing therapy. A belief system is a combination of feelings, thoughts, actions, and expectations. Belief systems operating in the training environment affect how therapists are able to deal with transference and countertransference. Belief systems must be evaluated in terms of whether they are comprehensive, delusional, absent, sinelusional, and the extent to which they are structuring us. The use of belief systems provides us with an appreciation of our own activities, an instrument for conveying our feelings, and, most importantly, a means for understanding the views of others.     

Design as a Tool for Family Evolutionary Guidance

This article begins by describing the impact of systems science on the field of marriage and family therapy, discussing that systems concepts are broadly disseminated but have become diluted. The author describes the educational program at a marriage and family therapy graduate institute where students utilize social systems design in their research projects as well as their work with clients. The article outlines the specifications of the Idealized Systems Design (ISD) teaching system, its relationship with the larger institution, as well as its purposes and systemic functions. Application of ISD to the field of marriage and family therapy is emphasized, demonstrating its use in helping facilitate individual, family, and community health as a research tool as well as a set of intervention tools for the practicing therapist.