Adaptation in family systems: a developmental perspective

Adaptation involves a dialectic between permanence and change. At lower levels of organization, mechanisms of permanence and change are split and in opposition; at a higher level of organization, they are integrated so that change can occur while identity is preserved. Current family theory does not account for the ability of families to change while simultaneously maintaining continuity; rather, mechanisms of permanence (morphostasis) and change (morphogenesis) are treated as operating singly or sequentially. Current theory, therefore, accounts only for a lower level of adaptive functioning. Piaget's notion of "regulations" is used to supplement the description of this lower level of adapting. In addition, Piaget's notion of "operations" is used to describe a higher level of adaptive process in which permanence and change are integrated. Because adaptive functioning is tied to degree of organization, one must increase the degree of organization of a family to raise its adaptive level.