A1 Journal article (refereed)
Play and liberty : A brief incursion into some ideological currents in the history of systems‐oriented family therapy (2023)
Sampolahti, T., & Laitila, A. (2023). Play and liberty : A brief incursion into some ideological currents in the history of systems‐oriented family therapy. Family Process, 62(1), 35-48. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12819
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Sampolahti, Timo; Laitila, Aarno
Journal or series: Family Process
ISSN: 0014-7370
eISSN: 1545-5300
Publication year: 2023
Publication date: 20/09/2022
Volume: 62
Issue number: 1
Pages range: 35-48
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12819
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/83808
Additional information: Käännös hollanniksi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12440-023-00209-0, DOI: 10.1007/s12440-023-00209-0
Abstract
We reflect on family therapy and its history from two points of view, as an entity that becomes understood with the help of a twofold concept of a game, and a twofold concept of liberty. Systemic family therapy has always been comprehended with the help of game theory. Its development becomes more properly understood if we keep in mind that game itself is a dualistic concept entailing both a cultural and a logico-mathematical interpretation of a game. We show how cultural ethos has molded the ways how game metaphor have been implemented to systemic thinking. In the same manner we show how Isaiah Berlin's idea of two incompatible concepts of liberty helps to contextualize family therapy in a way that its connections to sociopolitical theories of liberty become obvious. We believe that we have been able to demonstrate, how this twofold recontextualisation enriches the understanding of the ideological history of the family therapy. We claim that our reflections imply that family therapy is essentially a dualistic endeavor, that in the amid of it is a rift that cannot become repaired but only contemplated, that integrity of family therapy requires that we preserve both conflictual views, and don't try to simplify situation by abandoning one or the other. As a result, our article intends to develop further and deepen the idea that is originally presnted in the article "Strategy and intervention or non-intervention: A matter of theory" by Harold Goolishian and Harlene Anderson.
Keywords: family therapy; ideologies; family relations; freedom; game theory; systems thinking; history of science and learning
Free keywords: family therapy; ideological history; liberty; play
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2022
JUFO rating: 2