Power Sources I: Raw Power
Power Struggles: CL1
At the base will be the
that the family has to offer. It shows up in families as: dominating-submissive attitudes, hierarchical authority, and battles for control.
Where these battles get out of hand, every tiny decision becomes a battle-field. This can escalate, much as in society: i.e. to violence—child abuse or spouse battering.

Regulation: CL2
The family emerges in a cultural environment that specifies unambiguously how a family ought to be run. The
, sometimes mixed with serve as the family equivalent to . are often called «commandments» to make the power-element unmistakable.Family members may feel able to determine some of their own customs, but these will be ultimately derived from their culture. Altering
is far more difficult than altering the law. are handed down as traditions embedded in habits and modes of thinking.The higher two
( ) emerge from the need for the family to do work in order to survive and thrive.- Next: how power operates in family life.
Originally posted: July 2009; Last updated: 12 June 2014.