Understanding Family Functioning From a Family Systems Perspective: Implications for Research and Practice

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Family systems theory places the caregiver and child within the larger family system in which individual family members are necessarily interdependent. All subsystems within the family are systems of their own, but are also interdependent, exerting continuous and reciprocal influences on one another. From a family systems perspective any individual family member can never be fully understood independent of the context of that system and the interactions between the subsystems. The family systems theory is a promising tool to better understand the complexity of family functioning and its effect on child development, as well as the (differential) effectiveness of youth care and family interventions. An added benefit is that the family systems theory can be applied to all family types and compositions, including families with single or multiple caregivers, blended families and LGBTQ families. However, to date it is seldomly applied to research and practice. This may be partly explained by the fact that in research this requires extensive, multi-method, and multi-informant assessments. Moreover, in practice there may be important obstacles preventing practitioners from addressing the family as a system. For example, the way youth care is organized and financed may complicate collaboration between different (health) care organizations and practitioners. In this symposium we explore (a) how family systems theory can help understand family functioning and child development and (lack of) change herein; (b) what is needed to apply a family systems perspectives in research on child development and (c) in youth and family care policy and practice.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chairs

• Joyce Weeland, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Katrien Helmerhorst, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (UG/RUG)

Discussant

• Katrien Helmerhorst, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (UG/RUG)

Individual Presentations

• Patterns of Observed Family Functioning and Young Children’s Social-Emotional Development - Presenting Author: Jingyi Wang, Ohio State University; Sarah Jane Schoppe-Sullivan, Ohio State University

• Family Functioning among Hispanic Families: Risks and Protective Factors - Presenting Author: Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park; Minxuan He, Mount Saint Mary’s University; Stephanie M Reich, University of California - Irvine

• Families as Systems in Practice - Presenting Author: Nicole Lucassen, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Katrien Helmerhorst, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (UG/RUG); Joyce Weeland, Erasmus University Rotterdam