Introduction
Human relationships are never simple, and many theories can be applied to understand how people behave, make decisions, and cooperate. Due to the current COVID-19 situation, many families are challenged to spend much time in isolation and change their regular activities. Some people find it interesting to consider new conditions and restrictions to strengthen their skills and discover new opportunities, and some individuals face some problems and concerns. In this paper, attention will be paid to a blended family where foster relatives with special needs have to support each other during the pandemic. Human systems theories aim at promoting psychological, cultural, sociological, and biological concepts, and their primary domain is communication. Many theoretical frameworks help to study human affairs, and Bowen family systems theory is effective for viewing a family as an emotional unit and describing complex interactions of family members. This paper introduces the results of an observation of a blended family and describes the nature of human relationships through the prism of Bowen’s theory.
Theory Background and Concepts
During the last several decades, many sociological and psychological researchers demonstrate their interest in supporting and describing multiple family theories. These approaches are necessary to comprehend family structures, human behaviors, and the quality of relationships people can develop within a particular social unit. Family systems theory is a concept to look at families as unique emotional units, and it was introduced by Dr. Murray Bowen as a part of family therapy in the middle of the 20th century. The main idea of Bowen’s theory is to combine several concepts in terms of which multiple patterns of human behavior are defined through systems thinking. According to Bowen (as cited in Keller & Hall, 2020), a family is an emotional unit that implies a paradigm shift for analysis. In other words, it is wrong to consider an individual as a separate unit, but the whole family is characterized by complex interactions.
In terms of this theory, family members are connected within one system of interdependence. It means that a family should have several members who play their specific roles but follow common rules and regulations. Interaction, cooperation, and response to each other in a certain way are the steps that have to be taken to solve problems, make decisions, and promote development. There are many situations when individuals feel disconnected from other family members, and the task of the family systems theory is to identify positive and negative actions and emotions to change attitudes.
Eight concepts serve as the basis for Bowen’s theory, and each of them has its purpose and impact on families. The first concept, a triangle, introduces a three-personal relationship as the smallest stable system in a family (The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, n.d.). According to Bowen, two people are not enough to identify tensions and develop relationships, and three individuals provoke emotional attachments, share their thoughts and reactions, and change conditions and functions.
Differentiation of self underlines the uniqueness of every family member in a single unit. Even though there is a need for distributing similar ideas and beliefs, it is important to understand that people differ in their opinion, and a family unit has to create an environment where a person with a differentiated “self” understands the dependence on others (The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, n.d.). The nuclear family emotional process is another concept that focuses on problem-solving (marital conflict, dysfunction in one spouse, impairment of a child, and emotional distance) (The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, n.d). The truth is that emotional tensions are hard to avoid, even in the best families.
The family projection process describes how and why parents transmit their emotions to their children. The multigenerational transmission process is used to underline the worth of differences and obtained information through centuries. The concept of emotional cutoff helps family members manage their unsolved emotional tensions and reduce contact to gain better results (The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family, n.d.). There is also the concept of sibling position that determines the quality of relationships in a couple and the roles people like to perform. Finally, the societal emotional process proves the role of family relationships outside the house (e.g., at work). Cultural norms, working conditions, and religious beliefs may not define a family but contribute to the development of certain emotions in its members.
Applicable Research
Family relationships play an important role in health and nursing care, so many researchers apply Bowen’s theory in their studies to improve family functioning and prevent illnesses. Keller and Hall (2020) state that Bowen’s family systems theory and research methods are frequently interrelated to discover new knowledge about individual and family functions. Erdem and Safi (2018) apply this theory to investigate the role of a multicultural perspective in clinical practice, and Yektatalab et al. (2017) show how nurses should use Bowen’s ideas to decrease marital conflicts and promote healing. However, the situations when the same theoretical background serves as the solution to health problems vary, proving the necessity to investigate Bowen’s approach in multiple observations.
Observation
There is a situation when a blended family has to cooperate and deal with new restrictions of the coronavirus crisis. A diabetic mother takes care of two children, one is on a band scholarship in a summer school, and another is at a local college. The father completes his duties to support the family and earn a living the best way he can. Remarriage makes stepfamilies reconsider their values and develop new interpersonal dynamics into the created family system. In this family, the maturity of parents and support of children create positive relationships, with short-term conflicts and disappointment because of the impossibility of spending as much time as possible due to COVID-19.
Application of the Theory to the Observation
Regarding the offered observation, the theory of family systems developed by Bowen could help to analyze the relationships between family members and consider the situation that has a specific impact on their decisions. First, the concept of differentiation of self has to be mentioned because it helps to understand that in this family, each member deserves the right to demonstrate personal interests but without neglecting common family values. The societal emotional process is also crucial because the family has to support the son who spends much time outside their home, achieving his academic goals. Finally, the nuclear family emotional process, as a part of the family systems theory, will result in decreasing family tension because of the impairment of children and the necessity to focus on one child only.
Conclusion
The analysis of family systems theory in terms of a blended family observation shows that even if families believe that they have managed good relationships, there could be external factors that influence their affairs. The COVID-19 crisis is unpredictable, and its outcomes on families vary, depending on how well families could resist its associated changes. In this observation, a diabetic mother has to spend more time with her stepson, while her child cannot go home because of isolation restrictions. Bowen’s theory helps to realize that successful family relations are not determined by one individual but by the possibility to interact and support, creating a family as one emotional unit.
References
The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family. (n.d.). Eight concepts. The Bowen Center. Web.
Erdem, G., & Safi, O. A. (2018). The cultural lens approach to Bowen family systems theory: Contributions of family change theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(2), 469-483. doi:10.1111/jftr.12258.
Keller, M. N., & Hall, C. M. (2020). The role of theory in family research. In M. N. Keller & R. J. Noone (Eds.), Handbook of Bowen family systems theory and research methods: A systems model for family research [eBook edition]. Routledge.
Yektatalab, S., Seddigh Oskouee, F., & Sodani, M. (2017). Efficacy of Bowen theory on marital conflict in the family nursing practice: A randomized controlled trial. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 38(3), 253-260.