This article is posted with the permission of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family, P.O. Box 701187, Houston, TX 77270-1187. The article was published in Volume 12, Number 1 of Family Systems Forum, a publication of the Center for the Study of Natural Systems and the Family, in the Spring of 2010.
Foreword: This article is the second of two written for Family Systems Forum on the Bowen family systems theory and societal emotional process. The first was written in conjunction with planning for “Societies, Families and Planet Earth: Exploring the Connections,” the 2009 Spring Conference, co-sponsored by the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family and the Georgetown University Department of Sociology. That article, “Emotional Process in Society: The Eighth Concept of Bowen Family Systems Theory,” provided an overview of each concept of the Bowen theory, with particular emphasis on the concept of emotional process in society, which establishes that the triangle operates “the same in society as in the family” (M. Bowen, 269), and the societal regression hypothesis, which describes several possible anthropogenic drivers of prolonged societal regressions. It identified areas of potentially fruitful application of the theory toward a broader and deeper understanding of those drivers, which seem to underlie so many seemingly intractable contemporary societal problems.
This second article builds on the author’s decade-long effort to develop applications of the Bowen theory to societal-level problems (Comella, in press), insights gained from planning and execution of the 2009 Societal Conference, and post-conference work to identify a possible path forward to extend logically the concepts of the Bowen theory “into a beginning theory about society as an emotional system.” (M. Bowen, 386-387, emphasis added) Note: At the time Bowen wrote this, societal emotional process and possible human-induced, biological drivers of prolonged societal regressions were described under what he called the societal regression concept. Subsequently, a distinction was made between what constituted the concept of emotional process in society, for which Bowen had systematically marshaled sufficient evidence to warrant his including it as a concept of the theory, and the societal regression hypothesis. He left to the future the task of assembling evidence to validate or refute the hypothesis.
This article outlines an approach (with supporting rationale) that the author believes might facilitate movement toward a natural systems framework for observing and understanding human emotional functioning at the societal level.
Introduction: The Bowen theory concepts of emotional process in society (“societal concept”), emotional cut-off and the triangle, coupled with the societal regression hypothesis (“regression hypothesis”), provide the major points of departure for this article:
The societal concept describes what happens to human societies when they experience prolonged threats that are not in awareness. The threats nonetheless induce chronic, sustained anxiety that impels action. The action does not make the anxiety go away or diminish in intensity, but enhances it, thereby driving the regression.
• The foundational evidence for the concept of emotional process in society establishes that at behavioral and psychological levels, family emotional functioning influences societal emotional functioning, and societal emotional functioning influences family emotional functioning. The foundational evidence further establishes that the mechanism of mutual influencing is the triangle, and that the triangle exists not only at the level of the family (e.g., in the parental triangle, or the interlocking triangles among members of a nuclear or extended family emotional system) but in all human relationships. (M. Bowen, 386)
• Emotional cutoff describes what happens when people try to deny their roots: They automatically replicate past patterns of functioning that once may have been adaptive responses to threats and challenges but no longer are. Neither the automaticity nor maladaptiveness is recognized. Anxiety, not facts about the past, drives the process. The societal concept posits a form of societal-level emotional cutoff when the sources of underlying threats that drive anxious responding at a societal level are unrecognized, unacknowledged or unknown. Namely, the actions taken to calm or end the anxiety are misplaced and don’t (and can’t) work because they don’t address the underlying threats.
• The regression hypothesis postulates that some threats that drive chronic, sustained societal regressions are human-induced. People appear not to understand the biological underpinnings of human existence and act as if they are not subject to the same laws of nature as other forms of life on Earth. They act as if the Earth has infinite capacity to provide all the resources to satisfy human needs and wants without surcease or replenishment. The regression hypothesis lists three particular anthropogenic threats: “population explosion, decreasing supplies of food and raw material necessary to maintain man’s way of life on earth, and the pollution of the environment . . . [, which] are slowly threatening the balance of life necessary for human survival.” (M. Bowen, 386) When viewed in the context of the Bowen theory, especially the societal concept, the hypothesis postulates a societal-level link between behavioral and psychological functioning, on the one hand, and biological functioning, on the other.
• From the societal concept, the inference can be drawn that societies, like families, are emotional systems.
• Societal level emotional systems are composed of one or more emotional systems, e.g., the families that are part of a society and the institutions through which a society is governed or its functioning facilitated. That is, societies are emotional systems of emotional systems. By inference, the triangle operates between emotional systems and within emotional systems, the same as it does in family systems. In particular, anxiety (response to threat), whether or not a threat is recognized, can be transmitted within and between societies through operation of the triangle. Consistent with theory extension, the definition of triangle would include parties that are themselves relationship systems, as well as individuals.
In “An Odyssey Toward Science,” Murray Bowen describes the progression from preliminary estimates to hypotheses to concepts to integration of the concepts into a natural systems theory of human emotional functioning at the behavioral and psychological levels. (Kerr and Bowen, 349-352) This theory, the Bowen theory, proceeds “in logical steps from the family to larger and larger social groups, to the total of society.” (M. Bowen, 386-387). Of critical importance to development of the Bowen theory was the gathering of facts and functional facts (“observable facts about man and his relationships,” M. Bowen, 261; see also 359-360) to support movement from preliminary estimates into a theory. (Comella, in press) This approach provides a template for extending the Bowen theory into a beginning natural systems theory about emotional functioning at the societal level.
In taking a beginning step, this article focuses on areas in which evidence might be marshaled to support theory extension, based primarily on consideration of the societal concept, emotional cutoff, triangles and the regression hypothesis, as outlined above. The article also touches briefly on Bowen’s conceptualization of what he terms instinctive forces of individuality and togetherness and the necessity of striking an appropriate balance between the two in the promotion of a system’s survival. This effort is necessarily incomplete: not all of the concepts of the Bowen theory are discussed and the sketch of evidence for the concepts that are discussed is by no means exhaustive.
Some Thoughts on a Beginning Theory about Society as an Emotional System
Patricia A. Comella, J.D.
Foreword: This article is the second of two written for Family Systems Forum on the Bowen family systems theory and societal emotional process. The first was written in conjunction with planning for “Societies, Families and Planet Earth: Exploring the Connections,” the 2009 Spring Conference, co-sponsored by the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family and the Georgetown University Department of Sociology. That article, “Emotional Process in Society: The Eighth Concept of Bowen Family Systems Theory,” provided an overview of each concept of the Bowen theory, with particular emphasis on the concept of emotional process in society, which establishes that the triangle operates “the same in society as in the family” (M. Bowen, 269), and the societal regression hypothesis, which describes several possible anthropogenic drivers of prolonged societal regressions. It identified areas of potentially fruitful application of the theory toward a broader and deeper understanding of those drivers, which seem to underlie so many seemingly intractable contemporary societal problems.
This second article builds on the author’s decade-long effort to develop applications of the Bowen theory to societal-level problems (Comella, in press), insights gained from planning and execution of the 2009 Societal Conference, and post-conference work to identify a possible path forward to extend logically the concepts of the Bowen theory “into a beginning theory about society as an emotional system.” (M. Bowen, 386-387, emphasis added) Note: At the time Bowen wrote this, societal emotional process and possible human-induced, biological drivers of prolonged societal regressions were described under what he called the societal regression concept. Subsequently, a distinction was made between what constituted the concept of emotional process in society, for which Bowen had systematically marshaled sufficient evidence to warrant his including it as a concept of the theory, and the societal regression hypothesis. He left to the future the task of assembling evidence to validate or refute the hypothesis.
This article outlines an approach (with supporting rationale) that the author believes might facilitate movement toward a natural systems framework for observing and understanding human emotional functioning at the societal level.
Introduction: The Bowen theory concepts of emotional process in society (“societal concept”), emotional cut-off and the triangle, coupled with the societal regression hypothesis (“regression hypothesis”), provide the major points of departure for this article:
The societal concept describes what happens to human societies when they experience prolonged threats that are not in awareness. The threats nonetheless induce chronic, sustained anxiety that impels action. The action does not make the anxiety go away or diminish in intensity, but enhances it, thereby driving the regression.
• The foundational evidence for the concept of emotional process in society establishes that at behavioral and psychological levels, family emotional functioning influences societal emotional functioning, and societal emotional functioning influences family emotional functioning. The foundational evidence further establishes that the mechanism of mutual influencing is the triangle, and that the triangle exists not only at the level of the family (e.g., in the parental triangle, or the interlocking triangles among members of a nuclear or extended family emotional system) but in all human relationships. (M. Bowen, 386)
• Emotional cutoff describes what happens when people try to deny their roots: They automatically replicate past patterns of functioning that once may have been adaptive responses to threats and challenges but no longer are. Neither the automaticity nor maladaptiveness is recognized. Anxiety, not facts about the past, drives the process. The societal concept posits a form of societal-level emotional cutoff when the sources of underlying threats that drive anxious responding at a societal level are unrecognized, unacknowledged or unknown. Namely, the actions taken to calm or end the anxiety are misplaced and don’t (and can’t) work because they don’t address the underlying threats.
• The regression hypothesis postulates that some threats that drive chronic, sustained societal regressions are human-induced. People appear not to understand the biological underpinnings of human existence and act as if they are not subject to the same laws of nature as other forms of life on Earth. They act as if the Earth has infinite capacity to provide all the resources to satisfy human needs and wants without surcease or replenishment. The regression hypothesis lists three particular anthropogenic threats: “population explosion, decreasing supplies of food and raw material necessary to maintain man’s way of life on earth, and the pollution of the environment . . . [, which] are slowly threatening the balance of life necessary for human survival.” (M. Bowen, 386) When viewed in the context of the Bowen theory, especially the societal concept, the hypothesis postulates a societal-level link between behavioral and psychological functioning, on the one hand, and biological functioning, on the other.
• From the societal concept, the inference can be drawn that societies, like families, are emotional systems.
• Societal level emotional systems are composed of one or more emotional systems, e.g., the families that are part of a society and the institutions through which a society is governed or its functioning facilitated. That is, societies are emotional systems of emotional systems. By inference, the triangle operates between emotional systems and within emotional systems, the same as it does in family systems. In particular, anxiety (response to threat), whether or not a threat is recognized, can be transmitted within and between societies through operation of the triangle. Consistent with theory extension, the definition of triangle would include parties that are themselves relationship systems, as well as individuals.
In “An Odyssey Toward Science,” Murray Bowen describes the progression from preliminary estimates to hypotheses to concepts to integration of the concepts into a natural systems theory of human emotional functioning at the behavioral and psychological levels. (Kerr and Bowen, 349-352) This theory, the Bowen theory, proceeds “in logical steps from the family to larger and larger social groups, to the total of society.” (M. Bowen, 386-387). Of critical importance to development of the Bowen theory was the gathering of facts and functional facts (“observable facts about man and his relationships,” M. Bowen, 261; see also 359-360) to support movement from preliminary estimates into a theory. (Comella, in press) This approach provides a template for extending the Bowen theory into a beginning natural systems theory about emotional functioning at the societal level.
In taking a beginning step, this article focuses on areas in which evidence might be marshaled to support theory extension, based primarily on consideration of the societal concept, emotional cutoff, triangles and the regression hypothesis, as outlined above. The article also touches briefly on Bowen’s conceptualization of what he terms instinctive forces of individuality and togetherness and the necessity of striking an appropriate balance between the two in the promotion of a system’s survival. This effort is necessarily incomplete: not all of the concepts of the Bowen theory are discussed and the sketch of evidence for the concepts that are discussed is by no means exhaustive.
