System Theory Psychology - Assignment Example

Therapy may uncover issues that neither partner is aware of. If a couple enters into therapy because one or both of them are unhappy, once in session, the therapist may find several issues that are negatively affecting the relationship. One of the issues that may not only cause this unhappiness but also disagreements that causes the couple to argue occurs because of the gender roles or societal norms that often affect interpersonal relationships. Heterosexual couples may argue over the socially contrived expectations for their respective gender, issues such as who should have a career and who should care for the children.

Often couples will decide to both have careers. Then the issue becomes dividing up the parenting duties. Since families are systems recognized by society, the systems theory model can help a family in therapy become a system open to adaptation. Often only one of the partners feels like co-parenting or the lack thereof is an issue. The parent who does not recognize the stress that his/her lack causes the other may believe that the way the parenting tasks are divided are the “right” way, the way his/her parents did it, and so forth.

Researchers Morrill, Hines, Mahmood, & Cordova say that one of the biggest road blocks to solving a co-parenting issue is the lack of information from both spouses which could be attributed to the fact that only one partner sees the lack of co-parenting as a problem. “Family systems theorists argue for the need for inclusion of both wives and husbands in research with heterosexual parents, many previous studies have noted the lack of data from both spouses in family research (Bonds & Gondoli, 2007; Kolak & Volling, 2007; Margolin, Christensen, & John, 1996)” (Morrill, Hines, Mahmood, & Cordova, 2010, p. 60). Of course, the issue takes on a different light when same-sex couples are included in the research.

With the fairly recent recognition of same-sex couples as parents, the systems theory model gains support at least when it is applied to parenting. When mothers work, often fathers who also work are blamed for not sharing equally in the parenting duties. With same sex couples, the stereotype of the father being the breadwinner/mother being the child caregiver is gone. One partner in a same-sex couple may take on the breadwinner role and the other may take on the child caregiver role, or, they may share equally in both roles.

There are no pesky gender expectations that cause the couple to feel somehow socially atypical and therefore the subject of others’ disapproval. Explaining to a couple in therapy over such an issue the wholeness of all the parts of the family system and how they are interrelated may help both partners to see how important sharing the tasks of parenting are regardless of societal norms. Also, if one partner changes his/her behavior, they other must change too because the whole family system is greater than sum of its parts.

In the situation of a couple having issues with co-parenting, one therapeutic tactic would be to acknowledge that society has taught these parenting roles for so long that it is hard to “unlearn” them. Men, regardless of their sexuality, may find it difficult to take on the “mother” role. However, it is not impossible. Men just have to adapt the new role to their masculine identity. In a study done by Schacher, Auerbach and Silverstein they found “