Name of Concept
Negative Feedback in Family Systems Theory.
Introduction
Becvar and Becvar (1998, 2012) defined feedback as a central component and important criterion of cybernetic systems. It is classified as communication, or information flow, and is the energy input and output of systems. All behavior in family systems is considered communication and as such, acts as feedback to either maintain or alter the projected course of that system (Becvar and Becvar 1998). Feedback is categorized into two groups, positive and negative. Due to the common social definition often assigned to the words positive and negative, it is important to note that the words, in reference to systemic feedback, do not connote good or bad. Instead, the terms signify the contextual response of the system to the various inputs and outputs of that particular system (Becvar and Becvar 1998). Both positive and negative feedback are typically applied at the level of first-order cybernetics. However, second-order...
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Bateson, G. (1967). Cybernetic explanation. The American Behavioral Scientist, 10(8), 29–32.
Becvar, D., & Becvar, R. (1998). Systems theory and family therapy: A primer (2nd ed.). Lanham: University Press of America.
Becvar, D., & Becvar, R. (2012). Family therapy: A systemic integration (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
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Fife, S.T., D’Aniello, C., Holyoak, D. (2019). Negative Feedback in Family Systems Theory. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_292
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_292
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