Behavioral and systems family therapies: A comparison of theoretical assumptions

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Abstract
Behavioral and family systems theories provide two current approaches to treating distressed families. This paper describes and compares the ways in which both theories conceptualize family problems and explain maintenance and change processes within the family system. Systems and behavioral theories share functional views of problem behaviors and interactive sequences. However, behavioral theory uses more molecular analyses of processes than does systems theory, rendering behavioral concepts more readily operationalizable. Targets and methods of intervention also show some commonalities. The approaches diverge, however, in the locus of intervention (contingency sequences vs system structure), explanations of interaction mechanisms and failure to change, approaches to the maintenance of therapeutic gain, and integration of assessment and treatment goals and methods. Areas of potential integration of the two perspectives are discussed.