ABSTRACT
The work reported here is the first step in an effort to develop a reliable and empirically valid method for studying the characteristics of families as interacting units. An increasing literature (e.g., Jackson and Satir, 1961) emphasizes the critical need for a technique for family diagnosis. While a variety of techniques exist for the evaluation of the individual family member, there are practically no such tools when it comes to making meaningful assessments of the family group as a psychosocial entity in itself. As a first consideration, therefore, a method was sought which would simultaneously provide meaningful information about individual members as well as information about the family as a social system.
