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Social Theories
Systems Theory
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Definition

The sociological theory that attempts to explain how groups
of individuals interact as a system - a set of different parts
that work together and influence one another in a
relatively stable way over time.
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Key term: INFLUENCE
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Influence: The capacity to have an effect on the character,
development or behaviour of someone
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Basic Principles…
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Feedback
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Feedback implies give and take.
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The individuals within the family system influence one another in
a reciprocal way
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This makes it difficult to trace the origins of influence
Example:
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Example:
Cute dress mom!
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 In
our everyday lives our families influence our
behaviours.
 How? Any family examples?
 Older sibling/younger sibling.
 Family
members even influence the behaviours
once they have left the family system (i.e. divorce,
death).
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Family Subsystems:

The larger family system contains subsystems:

Family-unit subsystem of those members sharing a
household

Interpersonal subsystems between individuals, such as
husband-wife or mother-son

Personal subsystem comprised of interaction between the
individual as self and as member of the family
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What’s the point?

Family systems develop strategies for achieving the goals
and the functions of individuals and of the family
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Strategies: Patterns of interaction and behaviour that
are repeated.

These repeated patterns can predict future behaviours
of family members or explain current behaviours of
family members
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Genogram
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a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and
medical history.

It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user
to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors
that influence relationships.

It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and
to recognize hereditary tendencies.
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Systems Theory in the Media:
 Modern
Family
 Directions:
 Watch
the episode of Modern Family
and create a genogram of the family
depicted in the episode