ABSTRACT
Family systems theory provides a rich conceptual framework and body of research devoted to understanding the larger relational context in which parenting takes place. Although in some ways inherent to research on parenting more broadly, family systems thinking also stands apart as an independent body of thought. Indeed, given that the term “family” inherently refers to a constellation including parents and children, it might be thought that all parenting theory and research concerns the family system. However, family systems theory stands apart from mainstream parenting research and provides an umbrella for a group of theoretical perspectives that, although diverse in some respects, share a number of assumptions that can be best summed up as “the effect of relationships on relationships” (Emde, 1988). For example, a distinction can be made between family-related variables that affect children and their parents (e.g., poverty, community violence, and adversity) and family systemic processes that affect the entire system of interrelationships within the family, including their structure, patterns, and reciprocal transactions (Cowan and Cowan, 2006; Kerig, 2016). To this end, this chapter reviews key theoretical propositions underlying the family systems approach, describes the research and interventions that have derived from this perspective, and discusses future directions in the field.
