Family Theory: Family Systems Theory In The Family

Background

Mahendra and Chitra have been dating for four year. They are both Indian decent living together in Jamaica Hills, New York in a small apartment. Mahendra and Chitra have been engaged for the past two years of their relationship and they are preparing for a traditional Indian style wedding with over three hundred people invited. They met at Mahendra’s brother’s wedding but their parents, who are helping to put on this extravagant wedding, have been friends for about seventeen years. Mahendra is twenty-nine years’ old, and has recently passed the bar; however, he is currently unemployed. Mahendra would like to wait until he has found a job before getting married. Mahendra does not like doing chores and relies on Chitra to do most

Olson, John DeFrain, and Linda Skogrand,2014, p.74). Family systems theory states the whole is greater than the sum of parts meaning that the family is much more a collection of individuals who live together and are related to each other. It represents an integration of parts that individual members can be understood only within the context of the whole (Suzanne R. Smith and Raeann R Hamon, 2012, p.146). When looking at the family through a family systems theory lens, we can see that the husband and wife have similar backgrounds. They both are Indian and their families have ties to one another because their parents have been friends for nearly seventeen years. The family is the greatest source of influence on a child and that the child’s personality also effects the parents (Suzanne R. Smith and Raeann R Hamon, 2012,

In the progress of joining these two families, conflict with their individual preferences about household chores lie in wake to destroy the marriage before it gets off the ground. This can be identified by the fact that they are not making any changes to help each other reach equilibrium. It is difficult to predict the behavior of individuals by knowing about the family as a whole. The hierarchy of the family system reflects its arrangement of layers according to delegation or power (Suzanne R. Smith and Raeann R Hamon, 2012, p.153). Chitra has been in the relationship cohabitating with Mahendra, with in that time she discovers that Mahendra has a problem with procrastination. Although Mahendra has a law degree and has pas the bar he is not working. Chitra is frustrated because she feels that because she brings home the bacon, that Mahendra should help out more with the chores. Mahendra will only comply on his own terms and time and doesn’t think that everyone should allow him the time to do things, but he forgets and must be told to do the same things over or someone else does the job for him. Interdependence of parts is a characteristic of the system that are interconnected in such a way that if one part is changed, other parts are automatically affected (David H. Olson, John DeFrain, and Linda Skogrand, 2014, p77). Mahenta and Chitra get advice from their family. Chitra involves others as a way to get a