Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:669-673
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
A general systems approach to severe family pathology
S Fleck
The author proposes a general systems approach to the examination and
understanding of family functioning. Scrutinizing the family as an open
system with 1) evolutionary goals and tangible tasks, 2) a need for
"semipermeable" boundaries, 3) cultural and subcultural communication
modes, 4) leadership effectiveness, and 5) the nature and age-
appropriateness of the affective bonds will enable clinical judgements
about family functioning that indicate general system competencies and
defects. Such a framework may also lead to a typology of family process
because the major functions of the family as a system (creation,
nurturance, enculturation, and guidance of the young into adulthood) can be
evaluated regardless of symptoms or diagnoses.
