The concept of hierarchy has a threefold meaning in family therapy. First, it
describes the function of power and its structure in families. To this aspect of hierarchy
belongs the differentiation of roles for parents and children as
well as of boundaries
between generations (generational boundaries). Second, it
refers to the organization of logical types,
or logical hierarchies, in which a lower order of logical types is an element
within a higher order. Third, there is a hierarchy of increasingly inclusive system levels.
In this sense, an individual family member is a system that is
logically subordinate to the system "community," and the community to the system
"society" (Engel, 1977, 1980; Hoffman, 1981, pp. 54-56).*
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*Extracted with permission from Simon, Fritz et al Language of Family
Therapy - A Systemic Vocabulary and Source Book (Family Process Press Series)
Paperback 1985 Family Process, Inc.
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