This week we have been studying family systems theory and there have been a few interesting things that i found interesting in the context of my own family. Before jumping into that topic though i want to explain a little bit about what family systems theory consists of. This theory views the family as a living organism or a machine with moving and essential parts. It takes parts of the sociological theories of structural functionalism along with symbolic interactionism to help describe the roles and rules of each member of the family. In saying that each member in the family has a specific role or roles that they should perform doesn't necessarily mean that these roles are being performed or cannot be different for each family or person.
An example of how family systems theory would portray the family could be by comparing the family to the human body. the parents could be the brain, left side and right, because they help to guide the family through certain trials and can be considered the "heads" of the family.
One of the most interesting as well as entertaining things to do to figure out how this theory can apply to the family is to brainstorm some of the unspoken rules of your own family. Many of these rules were never written down or told to us in a family council but we learned them through breaking them and experiencing the consequences which could range from a dirty look to a painful flick on the head.
Here are some of the unwritten rules of my family.
1. Never open any bag or package of food without dads permission.
2. Never ask for money, but it is always available for collage funds if you just ask. (Weird)
3. Never ask for help.
4. Always try and fix everything yourself before you ask for help or call a professional.
5. The curled potato chips are for dad, then whichever ones he misses are all yours.
Who would have thought that some of the family rules we had would be so contradictory or funny.
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