Families

Families as Systems or Cases

A number of researchers have noted that case study research involves a decision of what to study rather than how to study something. Case study research typically focuses on a single case, and as a “bounded system,” there are elements of a case located inside it and other elements clearly located outside the system's boundaries. Family systems theory recognizes a family as a single case occurring within a larger environment, and a number of this theory's assumptions are relevant to case study research.

Case researchers draw on many features of a case to understand it, with one central focus on how a case functions. From a family systems perspective, the assumption that “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” is highly relevant to case study research. Family systems consist of more than just the simple addition of each family member; they include characteristics such as various behaviors and implicit or explicit ideologies that emerge out of the interaction between group members. Thus, family functioning can be understood only by viewing the whole system rather than parts of it. Case studies provide the means to understand the multifaceted inner workings of families by including all system elements, including various subsystems such as parents or sibling dyads, in an analysis.

A second assumption of family systems theory is that family systems, like any system, desire and need stability; too much change or chaos can result in system difficulties or breakdown. Ideologies (e.g., a family's gendered views of who should do paid or unpaid work) and behaviors (e.g., dinners with grandparents) become patterned over time, resulting in system stability. Stability is achieved through negative feedback loops, which discourage change. However, for families to remain viable, they must also be able to change when needed. For example, when a child is born, new routines must be developed in response to such a major change in the family system. Positive feedback loops encourage more of a new behavior (e.g., the adjustment of a curfew following a teenager's demands for greater independence) or new ideology (e.g., a family changing its outlook on life after a member is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease). Case researchers, through their exclusive focus on one family at a time, have the opportunity to observe and document various interactional loops that may be helping or hindering families.

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