Family Therapy Chapter 4 Terms And Definitions

Front 1

boundary

Back 1

An abstract delineation between parts of a system or between systems, typically defined by implicit or explicit rules regarding who may participate and in what manner.

Front 2

calibration

Back 2

Setting of a limit in a system, determining the range in which it may operate and how much deviation will be tolerated.

Front 3

closed system

Back 3

A self-contained system with impermeable boundaries, operating without interactions outside the system, resistant to change and thus prone to increasing disorder.

Front 4

ecomaps

Back 4

An appraisal tool designed to graphically depict a family’s connections with outside agencies and institutions, enabling the therapist to examine pictorially those relationship bonds that connect the family to these systems.

Front 5

entropy

Back 5

The tendency of a system to go into disorder, and if unimpeded, to reach a disorganized and undifferentiated state.

Front 6

externalization

Back 6

In the narrative approach, helping families view the problem or symptom as occurring outside of themselves, in an effort to mobilize them to fight to overcome it.

Front 7

feedback loops

Back 7

Those circular mechanisms by which information about a system’s output is continuously reintroduced back into the system, initiating a chain of subsequent events.

Front 8

general systems theory

Back 8

As proposed by biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy in regard to living systems, the study of the relationship of interactional parts in context, emphasizing their unity and organizational hierarchy.

Front 9

homeostasis

Back 9

A dynamic state of balance or equilibrium in a system, or a tendency toward achieving and maintaining such a state in an effort to ensure a stable environment.

Front 10

information processing

Back 10

The gathering, distilling, organizing, storing, and retrieving of information through a system or between that system and larger systems.

Front 11

marital quid pro quo

Back 11

An initial rule arrangement or bargain between husband and wife regarding the ways in which they intend to define themselves vis-à-vis one another in the marital relationship.

Front 12

metarules

Back 12

A family’s unstated rules regarding how to interpret or, if necessary, to change its rules.

Front 13

negative feedback

Back 13

The flow of corrective information from the output of a system back into the system in order to attenuate deviation and keep the system functioning within prescribed limits.

Front 14

negentropy

Back 14

The tendency of a system to remain flexible and open to new input, necessary for change and survival of the system.

Front 15

open system

Back 15

A system with more or less permeable boundaries that permits interaction between the system’s component parts or subsystems.

Front 16

organization

Back 16

The notion that the components of a system relate to each other in some consistent fashion, and that the system is structured by those relationships.

Front 17

pathogenic

Back 17

Pathology-producing.

Front 18

positive feedback

Back 18

The flow of information from the output of a system back into the system in order to amplify deviation from the state of equilibrium, thus leading to instability and change.

Front 19

redundancy principle

Back 19

Repetitive behavioral sequences within a family.

Front 20

subsystem

Back 20

An organized, coexisting component within an overall system, having its own autonomous functions as well as a specified role in the operation of the larger system; within families, a member can belong to a number of such units.

Front 21

systems theory

Back 21

A generic term in common use, encompassing general systems theory and cybernetics, referring to the view of interacting units or elements making up the organized whole.

Front 22

wholeness

Back 22

The systems view that combining units, components, or elements produces an entity greater than the sum of its parts.