ABSTRACT
This chapter revisits the definition of autonomy provided in Chapter 1 and describes how it is different from the colloquial usage. This chapter presents evidence for three processes that make the family systems autonomous – threat-response, individuality, and belonging. Drawing on the research summarized in previous chapters, this chapter discusses how these processes occur in every system that creates the family system, and how these processes are interdependent, rule based, and make interactions within the family distinct from interactions outside of it. Based on the evidence, it is argued that there is support for the hypothesis that the family is an autonomous system.
