ABSTRACT
Person roles can interfere with the ability to function fully in the present context when they are either imported from past role relationships, or are part of a subsystem where stereotyping is the norm. Roles as systems organize information about the self, others and the world. Roles contain, within their boundaries, a complex constellation of behaviors and thoughts. Roles tend to have characteristic postures, world-views, communications patterns, and attitudes. Roles are generally experienced as having a particular inner atmosphere or flavor and are a major source of human suffering. Theoretically, systems-centered therapy (SCT) has proposed that role is a mid-level system in a person just as a subgroup is a mid-level system in a group, and similar to subgroups, roles can be either functional or stereotypic. Important in SCT is the understanding of what are called “person system roles” as distinct from the “member role”.
