ABSTRACT
All families, whether or not they function effectively or as a clearly identifiable unit, can be examined as systems and sub-systems. Systemic thinking, which takes account of this model, is a framework or tool for observing how families (as well as groups and organizations) behave; evolving from biological explanations of how a living organism exchanges ‘materials’ with the environment (Von Bertalanffy, 1969). To do this, certain properties are required. One is an external boundary to separate the inside from the outside so that exchanges can occur. The boundary needs to be porous enough to manage the passage of material but robust enough to prevent leakage or disintegration. Thus the family can experience and define itself via its boundary but is also able to exchange with the outside world by including new members (e.g. via marriage) and give up members temporarily or permanently (e.g. to school or to link with another family through marriage) without, generally, falling apart. On the whole, the exchanges across these boundaries are not ones where contact is irrevocably severed and emotional attachments, physical presence and material capital (e.g. a dowry or inheritance) might flow within and across boundaries at different times.
