Upcoming Issue — Volume 19.2

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FROM THE EDITOR:
Robert J. Noone, PhD

ARTICLES: Journal articles reflect natural systems thinking or are relevant to it. These may include concept papers as well as research studies.

CHILD FOCUS AND THE FAMILY UNIT
Phillip Klever, LCSW, LMFT
Bowen theory’s concept of child focus or family projection process describes how the variation in intensity of parental focus on children, which is regulated in the father-mother-child triangle, influences variation in child functioning.  This article describes a longitudinal, qualitative research study that explored the child focus process, some of the emotional processes related to child focus and their associations with the symptomatic outcomes in the children.  The study explored these variables in five families who had the highest level of child symptomology and five families who had the lowest level of child symptomology from a larger cohort of fifty-one families.  The study found the five families with the highest child symptomology, as compared to the lowest symptom group, had more intense focus on their children and made more frequent statements about one child, who was usually the most symptomatic child.  Parents in this group also described their identification and strong attachment with the most focused-on child.  This group had significantly more tension and fewer positive experiences in the marriage and parenting.  The triangle patterns of moving toward and away in response to challenge or tension were described in both groups. 
Key Words:  Child focus, tension, triangle, child symptomology, emotional fusion
Keywords: Bowen theory, triangle, triangling, regulation of emotional tension, family stability, networks of triangles

50TH ANNIVERSARY FESTSCHRIFT FOR DANIEL PAPERO
John F. Butler, PhD
The term ‘Festschrift’ is a German word meaning a collection of writings published to honor a scholar. In this instance, this Festschrift honors Dr. Papero’s fifty years of association with the Bowen Center of the Study of the Family.

While studying for my MSW at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, I came across a book entitled Festschrift for B.F. Skinner. I was intrigued by the title and still have this volume. The book included an autobiography by Skinner, a listing of his publications, and articles by some of his doctoral students. With Dr. Papero, who has a doctorate in German languages, I thought a Festschrift for him on the anniversary of his long association with the Bowen Center would be most appropriate.

FACULTY CASE CONFERENCE: Presentation of a faculty clinical case, followed by a discussion with faculty members of the Bowen Center.

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS
Presenter: Laura R. Brooks, LCSW-C
This presentation is on sibling relationships. And this is a very small study that I decided to do to look at the multi-generational family and the level of distance and cutoff in the family.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A special feature of Family Systems is a previously unpublished manuscript by Murray Bowen and other researchers in the family field.

DIFFERENTIATION OF SELF AND THE I POSITION: CHALK TALK #4
Murray Bowen, MD
Introduction by Daniel V. Papero, PhD, LCSW
In the notes for this fourth lecture, Bowen outlines his thinking about differentiation and the I-position. When clinicians first encounter the Bowen theory, they often ask how theory applies to actual clinical practice.  In this lecture, Bowen illustrates his use of theory in therapy.

BOOK REVIEW: Reviews on books relevant to Bowen theory and its many applications.

The Ecology of Collective Behavior
By Deborah M. Gordon