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Old Wine in New Bottles: Decanting Systemic Family Process Research in the Era of Evidence‐Based Practice
Author(s) -
Rohrbaugh Michael J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/famp.12079
Subject(s) - qualitative research , psychology , social psychology , qualitative property , developmental psychology , sociology , computer science , social science , machine learning
Social cybernetic (systemic) ideas from the early Family Process era, though emanating from qualitative clinical observation, have underappreciated heuristic potential for guiding quantitative empirical research on problem maintenance and change. The old conceptual wines we have attempted to repackage in new, science‐friendly bottles include ironic processes (when “solutions” maintain problems), symptom‐system fit (when problems stabilize relationships), and communal coping (when we‐ness helps people change). Both self‐report and observational quantitative methods have been useful in tracking these phenomena, and together the three constructs inform a team‐based family consultation approach to working with difficult health and behavior problems. In addition, a large‐scale, quantitatively focused effectiveness trial of family therapy for adolescent drug abuse highlights the importance of treatment fidelity and qualitative approaches to examining it. In this sense, echoing the history of family therapy research, our experience with juxtaposing quantitative and qualitative methods has gone full circle—from qualitative to quantitative observation and back again.