Exam 10: Assessing Family Functioning in Diverse Family and Cultural Contexts

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Answers may vary. Homeostasis is a systems concept that describes the tendency of a system to maintain or preserve equilibrium or balance. In essence, homeostasis is a conservative property of family systems that strives to maintain the status quo. When faced with a disruption, a system tends to try to regulate and maintain system cohesion. For example, it may try to maintain the status quo in response to family transitions in the life cycle or stressors associated with acculturation or environmental events. As systems, families develop mechanisms that serve to maintain balance in their structure and operations. They may restrict the interactional repertoires of members to a limited range of familiar behaviors and develop mechanisms for restoring equilibrium whenever it is threatened, in much the same way that the thermostat of a heating system governs the temperature of a home.
Homeostasis operates through a pattern of feedback loops to reinforce the status quo and to preserve the family structure. Feedback loops are cycles of interactions, or expected interactions, that are used to exert influence over families and family members. Ordinarily, feedback loops preserve one or more aspects of family system structure, such as family boundaries, roles, rules, and hierarchy.
It should be noted that all family systems are characterized by feedback loops that preserve the status quo. This property of family system structure explains what social workers throughout generations have come to understand: that changes to family system structure are often slow and difficult to achieve. Thus, the force of homeostasis can be a major frustration to social workers and family members who are striving to resolve presenting problems in areas that implicate the family system. Yet it is also important to recognize that homeostasis, and the associated feedback loops that preserve it, is an important source of family strength. It is because of the force of homeostasis that families can provide a stable and predictable environment for development and decision making. It is because of homeostasis that the family is recognized by outsiders as a distinct social system and that it is not easily changed.