Bowen, Murray M.D. (1995). Clinical View of the Family. Family Systems Journal 2(2): 153-156.
Introduced by Catherine Murphy Rakow, MSW
In formulating universal theoretical concepts that could add to the knowledge base of human behavior, Dr. Bowen researched adaptations in human families. Concurrent with the research on families with a schizophrenic member from 1954 to 1959 at the National Institute of Mental Health he studied alcoholism and delinquency, and closely followed changes in societal process. Schizophrenia is persistent within populations over time. What factors sustain this persistence? A common view is that the etiology of schizophrenia resides within the individual. Intervention with the individual is a time honored method. In 1957, Bowen wrote that it would not be new facts about schizophrenia that would unlock its mysteries. It would be a new way of considering those facts already known that would provide understanding. Schizophrenia as an outcome of emotional patterns of a family across multiple generations poses a dilemma reminiscent of the struggle in science to understand the means by which species evolve and become extinct. A broader lens and a paradigm shift would be needed.
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