Family Systems Issue 11.1
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Table of Contents: 11.1
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.
TRIBALISM: BIOLOGICAL ROOTS AND EMOTIONAL PROCESS
Stephanie J. Ferrera, MSW
Tribalism, defined as attachment and loyalty to one’s own group, is a fundamental feature of human group living, rooted in biology, shared with other species, yet evolved in ways that are uniquely human. Drawing from the literature in evolutionary biology and related fields, the author describes six factors in the evolution of tribal instincts and behavior.
PERSPECTIVES ON GRIEF: PSYCHOANALYTIC, EVOLUTIONARY, AND FAMILY SYSTEMS
Anne S. McKnight, MSW, EdD
Modern views on grief have been profoundly affected by psychoanalytic thinking. Freud wrote in “Mourning and Melancholia” that “the work of mourning” consisted of an unremitting focus on feelings of loss of the loved one. This view that, unless adequate mourning was carried out, the individual was prone to suffer difficulties in life, was elaborated on by other psychoanalysts and contributed to a body of ideas that became the basis for the five stages of grief m proposed by Kubler-Ross. Animal researchers have observed grief reactions in animals, and evolutionary biologists have identified a natural resilience in the response to death in the human population. Murray Bowen introduced a theory (Bowen theory) that provides a wider lens on grief than focusing on the individual—to examine the impact of death on the family system. This paper examines these different perspectives toward grief with a focus on how Bowen’s ideas on the expression of grief as reflective of the emotional functioning of the family can be of use to professionals and individuals who are facing bereavement.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: A special feature of Family Systems is a previously unpublished manuscript by Murray Bowen and other researchers in the family field.
A LETTER FROM MURRAY BOWEN TO DR. ALEXANDER GRALNICK
Murray Bowen, MD
Introduction by Ruth Riley Sagar, MA
Following a professional visit to High Point Hospital in Port Chester, New York, Dr. Murray Bowen received a letter from Dr. Alexander Gralnick who requested that Dr. Bowen comment on his work. Dr. Gralnick was the founder and chief psychiatrist of High Point Hospital. Dr. Bowen wrote a lengthy response about the family field and about the development of his clinical practice after he left the NIMH in 1959. He observed that families that were often identified as schizophrenic could change when the family was seen and treated as an emotional unit in psychotherapy. He provides a detailed case example of an eighteen-year-old daughter who was homicidal and had been in and out of institutions for six years.
FACULTY CASE CONFERENCE: Presentation of a faculty clinical case, followed by a discussion with faculty members of the Bowen Center.
THE COMPLEX OUTCOMES OF EMOTIONAL CUTOFF
David S. Hargrove, PhD
The impact of emotional cutoff within a system of relationships reaches far beyond those which are obvious. Efforts to bridge cutoff evoke reactivity within the system and reveal entire branches of the system that are relatively unknown to many in a nuclear family. Further, the effort to bridge the cutoff can result in fresh connections within the system that have been dormant
BRIEF REPORT: Brief reports present important ideas in development and promising research in its early stages.
TOWARDS A SYSTEMATIC EXPOSURE OF BOWEN THEORY TO ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS
Katherine Kott, PhD
This brief report is based on a study of twelve organization development consultants who use Bowen theory in their practices, completed for my dissertation research at Fielding Graduate University. I found that organization development professionals were not typically exposed to Bowen theory through their organization development studies. Instead, most of the consultants happened upon Bowen theory serendipitously. Once they learned about the theory, they found it helped them manage themselves in client emotional systems. In addition, Bowen theory provided them with an alternative approach to their consulting practices. These findings suggest there is potential to realize Bowen’s aspiration to “give theory to the world” by regularizing exposure to Bowen theory for organization development professionals. This paper offers suggestions for exploring collaboration with established academic programs, sponsoring organization development related events, and promoting a Bowen theory framework for work systems.
BOOK REVIEWS: Reviews on books relevant to Bowen theory and its many applications.
FATHERS AND SONS IN THE ARAB MIDDLE EAST
Dalya Cohen-Mor
Reviewed by C. Margaret Hall, PhD
THE ORIGINS OF FAMILY PSYCHOTHERAPY: THE NIMH FAMILY STUDY PROJECT
Murray Bowen, MD, John F. Butler, PhD, editor
Reviewed by Patricia A. Comella, JD