Systems Theory Definition The sociological theory that... Key term: INFLUENCE Influence: The capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behaviour of someone

Basic Principles… Feedback Feedback implies give and take. The individuals within the family system influence one another in a reciprocal way This makes it difficult to trace the origins of influence Example:

Example: believe I’m hip enough to pull OMGness, I can’t off this kickin’ dress. Cute dress mom!

In our everyday lives our families influence our behaviours. How? Any family examples? Older sibling/younger sibling. .

Family Subsystems: The larger family system contains subsystems: ___________________of those members sharing a household ____________________ between individuals, such as husband-wife or mother-son _____________________comprised of interaction between the individual as self and as member of the family

What’s the point? Family systems develop strategies for achieving the goals and the functions of individuals and of the family Strategies: These repeated patterns can predict future behaviours of family members or explain current behaviours of family members

“Rules” All families have recurring behaviours triggered by similar situations. Rules can be: overt – spoke and known by all covert – assumed, but not communicated Patterns: .

Triangulations: . Child Mom Dad Friction

Scale Metaphore Think of the family as a scale or mobile. When one change occurs there is a temporary imbalance. Families strive for equilibrium or homeostasis, thus a new balance will be attempted to be found. During the strive for homeostasis each family member will react differently and each members reaction will in turn affect the system as a whole

Genogram a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors thatinfluence relationships. It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize hereditary tendencies.

Systems Theory in the Media: Modern Family Directions: Watch the episode 1 of Modern Family and create a genogramof the family depicted in the episode