Anorexia Nervosa: Family Systems Theory

Question 1

Murray Bowen

Answer 1

• thought couldn’t understand individuals in isolation, to understand them we need to consider them in relation to their family unit -> a whole emotional unit

Question 2

Enmeshment

Answer 2

• members of AN families are overly involved and boundaries within the family are fuzzy
• impinge on privacy, speak for each other
• self-identities tied together
• individual wants to assert identity from everyon else, family is structured in a way that prevents this, so asserts independence by refusing to eat

Question 3

Over-protectiveness

Answer 3

• constantly involved in protecting each other from external threats
• nurture each other obsessively, reinforces family loyalty and leaves no room for independence
• mother of daughter withAN saw role as a personal sacrifice
• easier to blame anorexic daughter when things go wrong

Question 4

Rigidity

Answer 4

• interaction within family are inflexible
• members deny need to change
• too rigid to adapt
• gives daughter no room for manoeuvre
• predicts some dysfunctional behaviour -> some kind of eating disorder

Question 5

Psychosomatic family

Answer 5

• psychosomatic conditions are conditions where no physical cause can be found so the condition is thought to be caused by psychological factors
• Minuchin et al:
• family is dysfunctional, result in range of psychological disorders, specific kinds of dysfunction can be seen in the families of AN sufferers, treatment needs to change the way the family functions

Question 6

Autonomy and control

Answer 6

• families exhibiting features of FST are actively preventing its memebers from exercising autonomy and control
• starvation is a desperate attempt to control ones self-identity as someone independent of the family

Question 7

ISSUE PEEL:

Answer 7

An issue with the family systems theory as an explanation for anorexia nervosa is it suffers from gender bias. Gremillion claims that there is gender bias in family systems because they tend to focus only on mother-daughter relationships, with enmeshment nearly always being seen as maternal. This is an issue because anorexia nervosa isnt subjective to only females and mother-daughter relationships, males can also be sufferers of anorexia nervosa, and in both genders they may have a closer bond to their father, meaning enmeshment could be seen as paternal in some cases, as fathers are also able to contribute towards it. As a result of this, the family systems theory fails to include the perspective of male sufferers and the fathers influence, hence its limited application and explanation of anorexia nervosa for males.

Question 8

STRENGTH PEEL:

Answer 8

A strength of the family systems theory as an explanation for anorexia nervosa is there is evidence that therapies based of this theory have had success in treating anorexia. This can be seen in Robin et al, where he tested the effectiveness of this therapy on a small sample of 11 young women with AN and their families, the treatment lasted 16 months, at the end of which 6 participants were considered recovered, and another 3 recovered after a one-year follow up period. This suggests that the family systems theories concepts may have some practical value. Therefore the use of therapy to treat the psychosomatic family shows the usefulness of the family systems theory to explain anorexia nervosa.