ABSTRACT
There are many theories, frameworks and models which seek to describe ‘the family’. Indeed, there have been as many, if not more, which seek to develop such theories and their application towards understanding the family and the relationships within it. The aim of this chapter is to present a selective review of some of those most associated with families who may be in difficulty and which have been found to be useful as a basis for understanding family development, interaction and communication. In recent years many of the practitioners whose task is to intervene in such families have found that a systems approach not only allows them to gain an understanding of the families who become their clients, but also to develop frameworks or to build practice models of intervention based upon it. What follows is an an attempt to develop a theoretical framework within which families where the parents divorce, as well as those who subsequently remarry, can provide both a focus and some understanding as a system passing through time, and also to develop practice models for interventions based upon it.
