Running Head: EVERY ACTION HAS A REACTION

Every Action has a Reaction

Nicholas Huggard

Kansas State University

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Abstract

Cybernetics is a distinct systemic theory that can be applied to a system. It relates to how

within a specific system, a family for example, has a set of rules and behaviors that occur

between individuals within the system. Similar to how someone chooses to eat, eating is

considered a repetitive behavior. It is something that can be expected to happen every single day.

That is a basic level of appliance from this model. Essentially, if something occurs within the

family one time it is almost bound to become a repeated behavior or reaction to a specific

circumstance. Cybernetics is a system that looks at the context of the situation in which how that

family reacted. After all, there are many ways to react to something but a system develops

unspoken rules which limits the possible reactions. The way in which people choose their

reactions can also be established by the feedback from the other individuals involved. In this

paper I am going to examine my own family as a system within the cybernetics perspective by

applying the concepts of negative feedback, positive feedback, family rules.

Rules are not meant to be broken

Parents have a very important job within a family system. They are seen as these

important figures that are meant to be looked up to by their children. One of the first things that

parents can establish is the family setting, as well as the rules that come along with it. As a child

it is hard to comprehend what exactly is happening, as you discover your curiosity of the world

and want to interact with it in whatever ways that a child can, but even within the animal

kingdom a lion does not let his cub meander around the prairie to discover things for itself. The

lion protects his cub much like parents do for their child, and they do this by setting down rules

to best protect the child. The rules that the parents set are not permanent and can be adjusted over

time as the child starts to better think for themselves, but also the rules that are established are
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only rules that the parents believe will be effective, which might not always be the case.

Regardless, rules are something that are adjusted to and over time it can be easy to predict which

behaviors would be labeled as outside of the family boundary.

As a child, parents may demonstrate this by giving them a time out or perhaps a physical

punishment to some degree, which helps the child connect that this behavior could be erratic and

not within the established rules. As children grow the rules can change when more responsibility

is added. Teenagers constantly are heckled about curfew, grades, and behaviors around their

friend. The main reasons for these rules are for some level of consistency within the family

structure and to maintain balance.

Negative feedback

The concept of negative feedback had me puzzled at first glance. As a society we have

such a negative connotation with the word negative, and view that anything that is connected to

it is seen as a bad thing when ironically enough, negative feedback for the majority of the time is

usually a beneficial thing. Negative feedback can be described as the ways a family enforce the

family rules. An example of this would be when I was in high school I got grounded because my

grades were poor. While I was upset about the reaction my parents bestowed upon me I accepted

it because I knew that it was fair, based on how our family has operated. I chose to not fight back

with my parents, and this helped maintain homeostasis, or balance, for my family. My parents

were also very supportive of using guilt to try and restrict the concerning behavior from

becoming a reoccurring problem.

The only worry that I have with negative feedback is that sometimes when the feedback

is constant, such as a parent trying to guilt their child, that suppressive feedback becomes less
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efficient the more it is utilized. For instance, after my mother first used guilt on me for missing

voluntary football workouts in high school it was really effective on me and I went back to work

outs. After she used it on me for the fifth time for the same behavior it no longer had an effect on

me. That is why I believe that, while negative feedback is important to maintain that level of

homeostasis for the family, that you use an effective strategy to make sure that that feedback you

are giving does not become ineffective. Otherwise it could lead to a drastic reaction that is

described as positive feedback.

Positive Feedback

Positive feedback, much like negative feedback, is defined much differently than I had

expected. Negative feedback is referred to maintaining homeostasis within the specific system

that it is being applied to. Positive feedback is a reaction that is seen as outside the family rules

and can potentially break the family rules. This is a term that can be seen as can be a beneficial

or a damaging thing. A way that it can be seen as a beneficial is if the family needs a change in

their rules in order to better appease the structure of the family. What I mean by that is that

sometimes a family can implement an unhealthy system that is destructive to the relationships to

those involved. For instance, if a family endures a crisis of some magnitude, the family could

develop a wall around each other and everyone could be scared to say anything that can be seen

as damaging or conflict. Without those disclosures to one another, the family is then hampered

by it and the relationships between everyone is affected as well.

Positive feedback could challenge those rules that were established which in turn would

allow a new set of rules to be established, one that would better help maintain relationships

within the system. A scenario in which positive feedback could be negative is one that occurred

to me in high school as well. My family grounded me my senior year because of poor grades, a
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reoccurring behavior at this point, and attempted to ground me. When the grounding became

ineffective due to it being used consistently, my parents would argue and try to use guilt on a

daily basis. After a while I grew tired of this shaming and would argue back with them

uninhibitedly. The arguing kept growing over time and really shook the whole family

infrastructure in a negative way. My relationship with my parents was damaged because my

reaction to them was outside of our family rules, therefore taking us outside of homeostasis into

a level of uncertainty.

A different perspective

Ultimately, I really enjoyed learning about this perspective. I was flabbergasted by how

much it challenged me to look at my own family in a different light. Every action that occurs

within a family is eventually part of an overwhelming pattern, as well as the reaction that follows

it. Without realizing it, families do always try and maintain some level of homeostasis in order to

function properly within that system. It will evidently make me more aware whenever something

occurs between my family and it will help allow the situation to not get notably out of hand and

break that balance. It will also allow me to self-analyze my reactions, and to see if perhaps the

rules that are being applied to our family are the most beneficial for all involved.
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References

1. Green, J. B. (2003). Introduction to family theory and therapy: Exploring an evolving

field. South Melbourne, Victoria Australia: Thomson/Brooks/Cole.