Understanding families as systems |
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| Authors: | Martha J. Cox Blair Paley |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Psychology and Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (M.J.C.), and Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (B.P.) |
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| Abstract: | In this article, we discuss recent research that has arisen from theoretical and conceptual models that use a systems metaphor for understanding families. We suggest that research stimulated by such models leads social scientists in new and important directions in understanding the social and emotional development of children in their families. These models view development as resulting from the dynamic transactions across multiple levels of family systems, which regulate a child's behavior. Thus, these models are important in considering multiple influences on development and adaptation. |
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| Keywords: | family systems family processes developmental theory |
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