Bowen familysystems theory is a theory of human behavior that views the family as anemotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions inthe unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely connectedemotionally. Often people feel distant or disconnected from their families, butthis is more feeling than fact. Family members so profoundly affect each other'sthoughts, feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are livingunder the same "emotional skin." People solicit each other's attention,approval, and support and react to each other's needs, expectations, anddistress. The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of familymembers interdependent. A change in one person's functioning is predictablyfollowed by reciprocal changes in the functioning of others. Families differsomewhat in the degree of interdependence, but it is always present to somedegree.
The emotional interdependence presumably evolved to promote the cohesivenessand cooperation families require to protect, shelter, and feed their members.Heightened tension, however, can intensify these processes that promote unityand teamwork, and this can lead to problems. When family members get anxious,the anxiety can escalate by spreading infectiously among them. As anxiety goesup, the emotional connectedness of family members becomes more stressful thancomforting. Eventually, one or more members feel overwhelmed, isolated, or outof control.
These are the people who accommodate the most to reduce tension in others. Itis a reciprocal interaction. For example, a person takes too much responsibilityfor the distress of others in relationship to their unrealistic expectations ofhim. The one accommodating the most literally "absorbs" anxiety and thus is thefamily member most vulnerable to problems such as depression, alcoholism,affairs, or physical illness.
Dr. MurrayBowen, a psychiatrist, originated this theory and its eight interlockingconcepts. He formulated the theory by using systems thinking to integrateknowledge of the human species as a product of evolution and knowledge fromfamily research. A core assumption is that an emotional system that evolved overseveral billion years governs human relationship systems. People have a"thinking brain," language, a complex psychology and culture, but people stilldo all the ordinary things other forms of life do. The emotional system affectsmost human activity and is the principal driving force in the development ofclinical problems. Knowledge of how the emotional system operates in one'sfamily, work, and social systems reveals new and more effective options forsolving problems in each of these areas.
Triangles三角关系
A triangle is a three-person relationship system. It is considered the buildingblock or "molecule" of larger emotional systems because a triangle is thesmallest stable relationship system. A two-person system is unstable because ittolerates little tension before involving a third person. A triangle can containmuch more tension without involving another person because the tension can shiftaround three relationships. If the tension is too high for one triangle tocontain, it spreads to a series of "interlocking" triangles.
Spreading thetension can stabilize a system, but nothing gets resolved. People's actions in atriangle reflect their efforts to ensure their emotional attachments toimportant others, their reactions to too much intensity in the attachments, andtheir taking sides in the conflicts of others.
Paradoxically,atriangleismorestablethanadyad,butatrianglecreatesan"oddmanout,"whichisaverydifficultpositionforindividualstotolerate.Anxietygeneratedbyanticipatingorbeingtheoddoneoutisa
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