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SE
SI
GI
GE
The four functions (SI, SE, GI, GE) are not
separate; a system performs all of these
functions at the same time.
In any exchanges between whole and
parts, all elements receive some energy
and have some goals met.
The reciprocal nature of the transactions
and exchanges should be kept in mind.
If one function is always dominant, the
other functions are neglected, to the
detriment of the total system.
Example:
The family system that concentrates energy
only on the SE function may experience
internal disintegration.
latch-key kids
Organization
Even if energy is available in and to a system, if
there is a total absence of organization then
there is a total absence of system.
Absence of organization equals entropy.
Organization refers to the grouping and
arranging of parts to form a whole in order to put
a system into working order.
System organization secures, expends, and
conserves energy to maintain the system and
further its purposes.
If the task of energy organization is not
accomplished, then the system will fail to
develop.
Organization is not synonymous with
higher levels of complexity.
The measure of effectiveness of
organization is its capacity to fulfill the
systems goals, as well as the goals of its
components.
Disorganization of a system whether
person, family, or neighborhood does not
mean totally unorganized; it means not
sufficiently organized.
Families with problems are generally
disorganized families, and the reasons for
this disorganization can emanate from
internal sources and/or external forces:
The goals of one or more members are in opposition to
system goals.
The elements of organization are disrupted or unclear.
Energies from within the system are not available or not
sufficient for the demands on the system.
The family is not adequately organized to obtain
additional energy from outside its own system.
The environment exercises a disorganizing influence on
the family system (oppression).
Energy is denied or not available from the suprasystem
(unemployment; or having welfare benefits cut off.).
Causation, Feedback Loops, and
Chaos Theory
It is not useful to understand human behavior
through searching for linear, one-directional
cause-effect relationships.
It serves little purpose to ask why persons do
what they do.
A more useful inquiry is how or in what way
something happened.
A interacts with B to produce AB, which
changes both A and B, and results in C, which is
partly A, B, and AB.
The process in which a system receives
internal or environmental responses to its
behavior and, in turn, reacts to these
received responses by accommodating
and assimilating the energy/information
received, by altering the systems
structure, and then engaging in altered
exchanges of energy/information.
The fundamental concept in chaos theory is
order vs. disorder.
Energy that is completely flat, unorganized, and
undifferentiated is in a state of disorder.
Systems and subsystems which are maintained
only by great effort and only by intense energy
exchange internally and with their environment
is an example of order.