Family Theory According to Bowen Theory and Its Eight Concepts

Murray Bowen developed a theory of family functioning and individual functioning within the family system. The Bowen theory most importantly takes into account the need to balance individuality with togetherness in tight social systems like families ("Bowenian Family Therapy," n.d.). There are eight basic concepts to the Bowen theory. The first is the differentiation of self, which is important for psychological health and well-being. An example of differentiation of self is when the person is able to hold a different opinion on a political or social issue than a parent without that difference causing a problem in the relationship. When the self is not differentiated, the person might have internalized the beliefs of mother, father, sister, or brother and cannot tell what is really "me" versus what is a result of programming, the desire for approval or absorbing others' beliefs.

The second concept to Bowen's theory is triangulation. Bowen believes that relationships are most stable when there are three parties, and that people tend to form triangles naturally in their relationships. A perfect example of triangulation is when the child first asks one parent for something and that parent says no, so the child immediately goes to the second parent for support. Or, a sibling who is angry at the other sibling might use the parent to form a triangle by "telling" on the brother or sister.

A third concept in Bowen's theory is the emotional processes of nuclear families, consisting of parents and children only. Bowen believed that in a nuclear family, the parents do not only pass down their genes but also their emotions, values, and beliefs. For example, if the mother is afraid of dogs, she might pass on that fear to the child who accepts the mother's belief that dogs are dangerous. If the child later meets a partner who has a dog, he or she has the choice between learning to like dogs in spite of the emotional processes of the nuclear family, or succumbing to those processes and rejecting the romantic relationship.

A fourth concept in Bowen's theory is family projection, in which the parents may project their anger or anxiety on the child, which can have a detrimental impact on the child's psychosocial development. For example, a parent who was never able to succeed professionally might start to project that failure onto the child by criticizing her actions or making defeatist comments like, "Oh, you cannot succeed as a an actor, you should try something more reliable as a career." The child who has a strong sense of self (differentiation of self) may resist the projection, but many children cannot and develop problems as a result.

Fifth, Bowen suggested multigenerational transmission processes, which extend from the emotional processes of nuclear families. In this case, the grandparents' generation also comes into play. For example, if the grandfather was a racist, he may have passed on some of his prejudices to the father. The father might be less prejudiced than the grandfather, but still remains biased deep down. Although the father is aware that racism is a destructive mental construct, he nevertheless makes subtle comments to the child about people of other races. The child then picks up on those subtle comments, which are really vestiges of the grandfather.

The sixth concept of Bowen's theory is sibling position or birth order. According to Bowen, older children would tend to have different relationships with their parents than middle or youngest children. Youngest children may be "babied," or given more permission because the parents are less controlling than they were when they had their first or second child. On the other hand, the parents might place the greatest amount of responsibility and burden on the older children.