ABSTRACT
This chapter shows enduring concepts in structural family therapy and a link between family and societal structures. It illustrates how therapists can integrate principles of sociocultural attunement in assessing family problems and offer practice guidelines that can lead to third order change. There are six concepts core to practicing structural family therapy. The first three focus on how families are organized, including repetitive patterns of interaction, family and individual development, and family structure and hierarchy. The other three focus on interventions, including the importance of joining, challenging assumptions, and restructuring. There are a number of important steps for practicing structural family therapy including expanding the family map, exploring the interplay between habitus and field to connect family to societal structures and identifying societal influences on family power dynamics, rules, and roles through exploring the impact of capital on families.
