Family Systems Issue 3.2

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Table of Contents: 3.2

FROM THE EDITOR
Michael E. Kerr, MD

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

HOW SOMATIC VARIATION LEADS TO DIFFERENTIATION: FROM CELLS TO HUMANS
John Tyler Bonner, PhD
Individual organisms and individual cells have two kinds of variation: they can differ in their genes (genetic variation), or they can differ in some way that is not inherited (somatic variation). When cells or individuals are genetically identical (clones) then their somatic variation is often put to constructive use by setting up a hierarchical organization within a group. This is illustrated in ciliate protozoa, cellular slime molds, social insects, and identical human twins.

A NATURAL FAMILY SYSTEM
David J. Gubernick, PhD
The effects of one relationship on functioning in other relationships is central to various family systems theories. An animal model of a mammalian family system is presented and research is reviewed on the effects of the pair bond on the male’s behavior towards young. The family system of the California mouse, Peromyscus californicus, is unusual among mammals because males and females form long-term pair bonds, are strictly monogamous and males show extensive care of the young. Research on the mechanisms underlying the onset and maintenance of paternal behavior and the inhibition of infanticide is summarized. 

AN ANIMAL MODEL FOR THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF MATERNAL STYLE?
Carol M. Berman, PhD
Evidence supporting the notion of intergenerational transmission of parental behavior in humans is growing. Given the difficulties of conducting prospective, observationally-based studies of parenting across several generations, it seems reasonable to look for parallel phenomena among our nonhuman primate relatives. Animal models could help place the phenomenon of intergenerational transmission into broader biological and evolutionary perspectives. This paper summarizes previously published data on the intergenerational transmission of one aspect of maternal style (rejection rates) among free-ranging rhesus monkeys and describes briefly more recent data related to the processes or mechanisms by which adult daughters and their mothers may acquire similar rejection styles. The new data suggest that an understanding of mechanisms for human and nonhuman primates may be complicated, and may require cross-species comparative studies of populations living under a variety of demographic and social conditions.

DIFFERENTIATION AND CHRONIC ANXIETY: VARIATION IN EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING
James E. Jones, PhD 
Variation in symptoms in a relationship system can be explained in part by variation in the intensity of chronic anxiety in that system. Chronic anxiety is influenced by variation in objective circumstances, level of differentiation, and functional position of individuals in the system.

Examples from the animal literature are consistent with the idea that level of differentiation influences chronic anxiety and symptoms. How rats manage defeat is associated with the strength of their immune response to a foreign protein challenge. How excitable rats are in a novel situation combined with a history of sensitizing experiences influence how readily they become addicted to amphetamines. Infant rhesus monkeys who have moderate responses to a novel environment will more readily handle a separation from their mothers without becoming debilitated. Male baboons who accurately perceive threat from other males, who effectively deal with threat and/or who sustain relationships with female baboons tend to have lower basal cortisol, known to be associated with better health. 

BRIEF REPORT: Brief reports present important ideas in development and promising research in its early stages.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RESEARCH PROJECT ON MENOPAUSE
Nomi Redding, MSW
This brief report details the first steps taken in an ongoing longitudinal study of menopause. Based on the menstrual cycle research of Dr. Alan Treloar and the multigenerational family research of Dr. Murray Bowen, this project tracks facts of physiological functioning within a relationship context.

The report presents the influence of Bowen theory on the review of the literature, formulation of hypotheses, study design, and data collection. Differences between conventional and natural systems approaches to research are discussed.

A VIEW OF MEDIATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BOWEN FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY
Mark H. Zweig, MD
During the past four years I have been trained in mediation, a process for dispute resolution, and have served as mediator for a wide variety of disputes. More recently, I started a serious effort to learn Bowen family systems theory and apply it to my own functioning. As I thought about the mediation process and reflected on my role in it, I found it relevant to view both through the lens of Bowen theory.

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

Presenter: Ann D. Bunting, PhD 
This case touches upon an area of current societal concern, the increasing incidence of violent crimes by juveniles and the response among state legislatures to prosecute them as adults. One problem society now confronts is that these offenders are being released in the prime of their lives, after having spent many of their developmental years in prison. 

In the case study, the quandary facing residents in one neighborhood resulted from the physical and sexual assault on a female neighbor by another neighbor, a fifteen-year-old boy, in the early 1980s. The events described in the case study began one year before the assailant’s release from jail, after fourteen years of incarceration, primarily in maximum security prisons.