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30 Fam. & Concil. Cts. Rev. 399 (1992)
Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory

handle is hein.journals/fmlcr30 and id is 372 raw text is: THE BOOKSHELF Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory Michael E. Kerr and Murray Bowen W. W. Norton, New York, 1988 Just 2 years before Murray Bowen's death in October 1990, Michael Kerr (who had worked with Bowen for 20 years at the Family Center at Georgetown University Hospital) and Murray Bowen published Family Evaluation, a systematic presentation of Bowen's theory along with extensions of it by Kerr. Even though most of the book was written by Kerr, Bowen views it as a condensation of his (Bowen's) 40 year odyssey to work toward a science of human behavior and adaptation. (p. 344). Attempting to develop a family diagnostic model based in biological theory (i.e., Darwin's theory of evolution, as described and applied by Kerr), the authors differ- entiate their natural systems theory from general systems theory, with the latter theory perhaps being most extensively applied to the family by the staff at the Mental Research Institute. Bowen and Kerr's theory is based on a theory of living systems, whereas general systems theory is a more abstract theory of all systems-including human-made systems. Or, as stated by the authors, much of man's virtuous behavior, as well as his dysfunction behavior, is rooted in his evolutionary heritage (p. 22). And the human family system sprung from the evolutionary process and not from the human brain. We did not create it. We did not design human relationships. Family (natural) systems theory assumes that the principles that govern such things are there in nature for us to discover (p. 24), with these principles being written in nature. Differentiating between emotion and feeling, the authors view all living organisms as having emotions, that is, a capacity for reactivity to the environment. As they attempt to understand the family as an emotional/biological unit, Kerr and Bowen make a unique contribution to family theory, thus helping us look for the biological/instinctual roots of processes that occur between and within individuals in families. In particular, in their chapter on individuality and togetherness, the authors argue that these two opposing forces are life forces, based in man's biological nature. They cite biological research about the adaptive significance of social organization within Homo sapiens. They define togetherness as a biologically rooted life force ... that propels an organism to follow the directives of others, to be a dependent, connected, and indistinct entity (p. 65). Individuality is also viewed as a biologi- cally rooted life force, which propels an organism to follow its own directives, to be FAMILY AND CONCILIATION COURTS REVIEW, Vol. 30 No. 3, July 1992 399-402 C 1992 Sage Publications, Inc. 399