General Systems Theory: Basic Principles
- System is greater than sum of parts; ex. investigate the whole situation/organism
- Subsystem may be present, however is apart of a larger system; ex. a sibling subsystem
- System is dynamic and made up of interconnected elements- change in one element causes a change in other elements; ex. someone dying in family
- All systems tend toward equilibrium- balancing of forces within/outside of system; people adapting to difficult life events
- Viable systems need to be goal oriented, governed by feedback and ability to adapt to changes; ex. traumas:
- Input
Goes into and is transformed by the system; ex. family therapist
- Throughput
Process used by the system to convert what comes into the system; ex. process between therapist and family
- Output
product resulting from the throughput process; ex. what happens as a result of intervention
- Feedback
Information used to evaluate the processing of what goes into the system
- Subsystem
system within a subsystem; ex. sibling subset in a family
- Static system
little to no change
- Dynamic system
constantly changing; inputing and outputting with environment
- Closed system
closed from environment
- Boundary
boundary where system is differentiated from the environment; ex. school within a neighborhood
- Goal
overall purpose
- Entropy
order and energy developed over time
- Negentropy
lose energy and differentiate
- Equiffinality
goals achievable with various inputs in different ways
General systems theory: Ludwig Bertalanffy
Ludwig von Bertalanffy refuted scientific notion that system could be broken down into parts and analyzed separately.
System is characterized by the interactions among the parts and nonlinear nature
Conceptual framework for understanding human systems
Interdisciplinary and can be utilized across disciplines
