SYSTEM/SYSTEMIC

A system is a self-regulating complex of interactive elements. It is a general model. Applied to the group or family as a unit, this notion is the basis for the systemic perspective.

In the United States the Palo Alto researchers (Gregory Bateson, Paul Watzlawick), using cybernetic and systems theory, studied the modalities of communications in the families of schizophrenics. They created notions such as the double bind, the paradox, and the existence of the "identified patient" (IP; the family member in whom the family's symptom has emerged or is most apparent) necessary to the maintenance of family homeostasis. These new concepts have been used in treating dysfunctional families using various "systemic family therapies."

The first-generation systems theorists who used and developed the ideas of the Palo Alto group challenged psychoanalytic theories. Implementing a logic that is circular rather than linear, sessions relied on positive connotations, counter-paradoxes, and behavioral prescriptions. In this treatment option, intrapsychic phenomena were not denied but were deliberately disregarded. The emphasis was placed on information seen as "input" to and "output" from the "black box," whose contents and workings were intentionally ignored. Further developments in theory and practice in this area have led to a taking into account of the effects produced by the presence and personality of the practitioner.

FranÇoise Diot and Joseph Villier

See also: Science and psychoanalysis.

Bibliography

Bertalanffy, Ludwig von. (1973). General system theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York: G. Braziller. (Original work published 1947)

Le Moigne, Jean-Louis. (1977). La théorie du système général: Théorie de la modélisation. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Miermont, Jacques. (1985). Mythes et modèles scientifiques en psychothérapie individuelle et en thérapie familiale. Actualités psychiatriques, 9.

Selvini-Palazzoli, Mara, Boscolo, Luigi, Cecchin, Gianfranco, et al. (1975). Paradox and counterparadox: A new model in the therapy of the family in schizophrenic transaction (Elisabeth V. Burt, Trans.). New York: J. Aronson.

Wiener, Norbert. (1950). The human use of human beings: Cybernetics and society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.