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Violence and the systemic view: the problem of power
1Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk 23501.
Family Process
|March 1, 1989
Summary
Systemic perspectives struggle with violence and power, often excluding them from analysis. This study argues that while systemic theory may set aside power and violence, it cannot invalidate the human experience of them.
Area of Science:
- Systems theory
- Epistemology
- Feminist theory
Background:
- Violence is often viewed linearly, posing challenges for systemic analysis.
- Gregory Bateson's work suggests a systemic disqualification of power, potentially extending to violence.
- Feminist criticism prompts a re-examination of this systemic perspective on violence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the systemic disqualification of violence and power.
- To integrate feminist critiques into the understanding of systemic perspectives.
- To re-evaluate the relationship between systemic theory and human experience.
Main Methods:
- Critical analysis of Bateson's epistemology.
- Examination of feminist critiques of power and violence.
- Theoretical argumentation on the scope and limitations of systemic perspectives.
Main Results:
- Violence and power are integral to human experience.
- Systemic theory's exclusion of power and violence is a theoretical choice, not a refutation of experience.
- The systemic perspective has inherent limitations in addressing lived human experiences.
Conclusions:
- Systemic explanations may deliberately exclude power and violence.
- This exclusion represents a limitation of the systemic viewpoint.
- Systemic theory cannot invalidate the human experience of power and violence.