ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the framework of ideas upon which the DFAS is based.
The structure of the assessment system
The first and most important step in the development of the Darlington Family Assessment System (DFAS) was the decision to construct a ‘checklist’ based upon holistic analysis of the family (Keeney and Cromwell, 1977). Four key perspectives upon the family (or ‘systemic levels’) which seemed most appropriate for child-centred problems were used to construct the checklist. These were the child perspective, the parental perspective, the parent-child perspective (parenting style) and the whole family perspective (what is often termed family dynamics, transactions or processes). In this way the characteristics of the children, the parents, the parenting style and the family group as a whole can be examined in turn. Subsequently this checklist was developed into a formal rating scale by choosing a set of ‘problem dimensions’ for each systemic level. For each perspective, the task was to choose a set of dimensions which would:
• provide clear and meaningful distinctions between different types of problems on each systemic level
• enable a clear understanding of complex problems through the use of descriptors of key aspects of the family system
• be based upon widely accepted and validated concepts, phrased in simple terms, avoiding jargon
• provide a brief but reasonably comprehensive set of descriptors for each perspective.
