Socioculturally Attuned Structural Family Therapy

This chapter highlights enduring concepts in structural family therapy and explores connections between familial relationships, societal structures, and power to highlight the impact of social, economic, cultural, and symbolic capital on individual and relational well-being. Authors offer guidelines for socioculturally attuned structural family therapy, including connecting family and social structures, identifying societal influences on family power dynamics, exploring and committing to equity-based relationships, and restructuring to support developmentally appropriate relational equity. In this approach, families are encouraged to attune to how societal systems and power dynamics impact all members; to name and value the experience of each family member within subsystems, family hierarchy and the broader society. Therapists intervene in structures that support and condone the privilege of some at the expense of others. Families are encouraged to envision alternatives in order to more consciously choose how they organize their relationships. A case example is offered to illustrate how through this process, families can transform their relationships to share power equitably with each other, working together to face societal injustices.