The concept of “boundaries” is a significant one in the fields of family communication, psychology, counseling, sociology, and anthropology (to name just a few). The glossary definition of “boundaries” supplied by the authors, states, “Boundaries: A property of systems theory holding that families develop boundaries, but because families are open systems, the boundaries are relatively permeable.”
Boundaries can be external or internal and symbolic or literal. The boundaries in families might be actual physical boundaries such as a lock on someone’s bedroom door or they may be merely symbolic. Read the following pages from your textbook in preparation for your reflection paper: pp.8-9; 67; 69-70; p.248 and p. 265.
Now, here is your first assigned reflection paper description: Reflect on and think about the boundaries that exist(ed) in your family-of-origin and/or your current family. Your family-of-origin is the family in which one has been raised.
Offer the textbook definition of “boundaries”, but also provide your own definition. Think deeply. Along with reflecting on boundaries in your family (share stories and examples) also give an example of a literal boundary, a symbolic boundary, an external boundary and an internal boundary. Please DEFINE these terms as you use them (from the textbook). You will find that typing out the definition will help you be more clear so you can correctly give an example that matches the definition. When referencing something from our textbook you don’t need to do a formal in text citation (although you certainly can!). Instead, use a phrase such as “According to Turner and West on p.67 of our textbook…” These reflection papers should include some textbook information from the definitions, but the balance should be your own personal experiences.
After you share your reflections on family boundaries, feel free to reflect on other relevant topics, such as roles and rules, family types, etc. Your paper should be 3 to 5 pages long, double-spaced, 1 inch margins. A title page does NOT COUNT as part of your page count!