Family Systems Issue 8.1

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Table of Contents: 8.1

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.

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: A SOCIETAL EMOTIONAL PROCESS
Shelly Fine, MASc
There is much debate about the origins and perpetuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With all the deep-seated emotional issues that are triggered it is almost impossible to come up with an objective understanding of the issues involved. People and countries seem to take sides and focus on what is wrong with the other rather than try to understand this phenomenon as an emotional process that much of the world contributes to and sustains. This paper will use Bowen theory to suggest that the Israelis and the Palestinians, in their chronic anxiety, have become locked in an overfunctioning/underfunctioning reciprocity which has been reinforced by the triangling of, primarily, Britain, Russia/Soviet Union, other Arab entities, and the United States. As a result, none of the parties have been able to think rationally about what is best for the long term. They stay stuck in an emotional process from which they have not been able to extricate themselves. During times of increased societal stress, this process produces symptoms in the form of the terrorism we see today.

THE MULTIGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION PROCESS AND THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF ATTACHMENT AND STRESS REACTIVITY
Robert J. Noone, PhD
Progress toward a science of human behavior requires the development of theory and concepts which can be subjected to testing. This testing of rich concepts and theories entails observation, comparative analysis, and research from a range of fields of investigation. The concept of the multigenerational transmission process in Bowen theory is a testable concept, and findings from the fields of the neurobiology of attachment and stress reactivity are presented in this context. These areas of research focus on the limbic-HPA system and provide some initial support for: (1) how family interactions can have such profound effects on development; (2) how such effects might vary among siblings; and (3) how they can be transmitted nongenomically over multiple generations. In particular, the research in these areas indicates that behavioral interactions in the maternal-offspring relationship can significantly influence the neuroendocrine and behavioral development and adaptiveness of individuals. 

SURVIVAL, FUSION, AND FUNCTIONING IN EXTREME POVERTY
Louise Rauseo, RN, MS, CS
This report of family adaptation to extreme poverty brings questions and new data to an understanding of fusion and togetherness. Fusion is not an exact way of describing human relationships, but it evokes a sense of something familiar for most humans when togetherness requirements appear to obliterate the ability to think for oneself. Bowen theory describes one aspect of fusion as the way people at lower levels of differentiation “borrow or lend self” in dealing with anxiety in life and in relationships. 

This paper proposes that some life circumstances may, in themselves, increase the level of fusion in a family in an effort to reduce anxiety and to promote survival of the group. The requirement of family togetherness may be related to anxiety and to the very real threat to survival. 

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

THE SICK, THE SAD, THE SAVAGE, AND THE SANE
Don D. Jackson, MD
Introduction by Wendel A. Ray, PhD
In this lecture delivered when family system theory was in its infancy, Dr. Jackson draws upon research conducted by investigators working in diverse disciplines to illustrate fundamental differences between an individual and a relationship/contextual analysis of human behavior. Limitations and errors of reification that can arise from using the disease model to comprehend behavior are delineated. The basic premise of communication theory postulates that all behavior is communication. The relevance of observer imposed punctuation and the limitations of lineal causality are discussed. A central premise of interaction focused theory is that “we are constantly defining and being defined by the nature of our relationships.” The rationale for shifting from the study of the individual in vitro to the adoption of the proposition that the “premise of the family as a system requires us to attend only to present (observable) process,” is articulated.—Wendel A. Ray (2008) 

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

THE AFFAIR AS AN EMOTIONAL MANAGER IN MARRIAGE
Presenter: Anne S. McKnight, LCSW, EdD
My interest in presenting a case study on the subject of the affair was first stimulated by the frequency that it is presented as a symptom in consultation. I had also recently attended a conference sponsored by the Bowen Center on the Brain and Relationships where several presenters discussed monogamy in the natural world. I presented the family again in October 2007 to discuss the life course of the family during the following year and a half.

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

PUNISHED BY REWARDS
by Alfie Kohn
Reviewed by Roberta Gilbert, MD