Bowen Family System Theory and its Application in the Morgan Family

This report discusses the application of Bowen Family System Theory in analyzing the relationship between Caroline and her siblings in the Morgan family. It also addresses the issues in the family and highlights the interaction between Caroline and her environment.

LIFECYCLE
DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Bowen family system theory with respect to relation of Caroline with her siblings...................3
Addressing of issues in the Morgan family with the help of system approach...........................4
Interaction between Caroline and her environment.....................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Lifecycle Development with respect to child’s growth is developing of a child with all the
things they need. It is very important for a family to support the development of a child in a
positive manner and do not get influenced by bad things happening in the family (Perez, 2019).
This report discussed about a family named Morgan who provides service to many children who
come from different families. The Bowen’s family system theory is used to analyse one of the
children named Caroline and the relationship of her with all her siblings. Further, it also
highlighted the problems in the family with the triangle approach of the system theory. Later, the
interaction between Caroline and the environment was highlighted and described.
TASK 2
Bowen family system theory with respect to relation of Caroline with her siblings
Bowen family system theory is the theory related to the human behaviour which considers
the family as emotional unit which also makes use of the system’s thinking in order to describe
the complex interactions. The main thing which describes the family is that all the members of a
family are connected emotionally. Sometimes, the people feel disconnected or distant from their
families but that is feeling more than fact. This can be analysed in the case of Caroline who was
distant from family as her father has left her mother when her age was six months. She did not
remember anything about her father. The model also demonstrates that if a change is brought in
the functioning of a person, then it brings automatic changes in the functioning of others (Bridge,
2019). Their independence can be to some degree, but presence is more than that.
The emotional interdependence leads to the cohesiveness and cooperation which is
required by the family members in order to protect, feed and shelter each other. Same happened
in the case of Caroline as she was the only one to take care of her siblings as she was the eldest
one among all. So, the responsibility of all the siblings lie in the hands of her. Her siblings were
very young so they cannot take care of themselves and needed a constant support. She had to
take the responsibility of all the siblings as she and her siblings have witnessed their father
abusing their mother physically. She shared a great bond with her siblings. But as she had a great
responsibility of all of them. So, sometimes she became stressed. This heightened tension can
escalate the processes which helps in promoting team work and unity which causes various
problems (Thompson, Wojciak and Cooley, 2019). This was also identified in the system theory
that if the anxiety of one member increases, then it spreads automatically to the other members.
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Every member in the family feels isolated and out of control. It was same in the case of Caroline,
due to too much responsibility for others distress in regards of the expectation which are not real
of her. The model also identifies that the person who takes much responsibility of the family is
most vulnerable to problems such as depression, physical illness etc. (Hanlie, 2017).
Dr. Murray Bowen who was a psychiatrist developed the theory of Bowen family system
and the eight interlocking concepts. Among all the 8 concepts, the triangle concept best suits the
case of Caroline and the case. Triangle is considered as the smallest stable three-person
relationship system which considers the emotions of persons. Two people if together can’t bear
much tension but when in high tension they feel the need of third person to triangulate or makes
easy to manage the tension between them (Wallace, 2020). Therefore, a triangle has the ability to
contain much tension without involving another person as the tension can be shifted around the
three relationships. Same happened in the Caroline’s family, the tension increased because of the
fights between her mother and father, so Caroline was there to reduce the tension and took all the
responsibilities of her siblings. So, shared a very strong bond with her siblings.
Addressing of issues in the Morgan family with the help of system approach
The Morgan family was known as the service provider for children from 12 years. Many
children come from different families so there are various issues raised to manage every child
due to everyone one or the other day. For example, children Harry who was nine years old and
Jack who was six years old came from a large family whose parents were Jane and Mark and
also had four sisters and brothers. Both the children have learning disabilities and also possess
certain educational needs which can cope up with the difficulties of behaviour and emotions.
Also, Jake suffered from Asthma.
These were the problems to be cured but the main concerns were the addictions of Jane and
Mark of drinking the alcohol. The addition which Mark has was of class A drugs and Jane was
suffering from anxiety and depression. This says that there are various needs of the family which
can meet up the challenges faced by them. This can be understood by the triangle in the Bowen’s
family system model (Perez, 2019).
At the high tension level, when there is high tension between two groups, in this case, of
Morgan family, the two groups are one of the Morgan family and one of the children from
different families. There was high tension between them so there was a need of an outsider who
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can reduce the tension between the two groups. The model says that if problem occurs between
the two groups, one insider decides for an outsider to resolve the situation.
Therefore, the local authority took the support of the care settings to provide care to the
children. They could face various issues and significant harm if they lived together. So, the
family took the help of an outsider that was care settings in order to resolve the issues as well as
the problems to manage all the children at one place. But that also didn’t work well. so, the
triangle was not successful between the family, children and the care settings. Then the family
looked for another outsider who can facilitate the children and take care of them (Neophytou and
Rodríguez‐González, 2020). So, the social worker played the role of a care taker as the children
were segregated as Harry and Jake were placed in the same foster room as they were from the
same family and will be comfortable being with each other. Caroline came alone that is why she
was kept alone in the residential care as no one from her family was there to live with her. Chloe
who was only 14 months old was kept with a foster carer and that too 20 miles away. Robert was
of five years old and Lola of three years were placed together as they were emotionally
connected with each other and foster carers were there to support and care for them.
Interaction between Caroline and her environment
As Caroline came alone from her family, she was kept alone with the foster carers in a
residential care where she was provided with care and support. Therefore, it can be said that
triangles contribute greatly in developing the clinical problems. But also gives the solution to the
problems. As Caroline moved from her family to another place in a residential care she was
stressed because at initial level she could not cope up with the environment but as the foster
carers were there to give constant support and care, the idea of social worker was implemented
successfully as the children got the care providers and the places where they can live happily and
safely (Gonzalez, 2018).
CONCLUSION
The above section basically focussed on the Bowlen family system theory which was
incorporated with the case of Morgan family in order to analyse the relationship between the
Caroline and the siblings. The clear description of the system approach was done to identify the
issues in the Morgan family and in the case of Caroline. Also, it highlighted the interaction
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which was between Caroline and the environment in which she lived. The triangle theory of the
Bowmen’s family system was used to address all the aspects of the family and the children they
serve.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bridge, E.N., 2019. Review of a case study in light of Bowen theory: Differentiation of
self. Yaşam Becerileri Psikoloji Dergisi. 3(5). pp.65-72.
Gonzalez, D., 2018. Understanding the Lived Experiences of Mexican-American MFTs Working
with Mexican-American Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence Using Bowen Family
System Theory (Doctoral dissertation, Alliant International University).
Hanlie, A., 2017. Family interaction patterns in maternal alcohol abuse: an application of
Murray Bowen’s family system theory (Doctoral dissertation, Nelson Mandela
University).
Neophytou, K. and Rodríguez‐González, M., 2020. Triangulated children's reality: Medical
model's concealing effect versus family systems' revealing effect. Systems Research and
Behavioral Science.
Perez, C., 2019. 11 Using Bowen Family Systems Theory with Families. Systemically Treating
Autism: A Clinician’s Guide for Empowering Families.
Thompson, H.M., Wojciak, A.S. and Cooley, M.E., 2019. Family-based approach to the child
welfare system: an integration of Bowen family theory concepts. Journal of Family
Social Work. 22(3). pp.231-252.
Wallace, H.S., 2020. Family Systems Theory in Media Research. The International
Encyclopedia of Media Psychology, pp.1-8.
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