How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching Families | Page 119

8. Societal Emotional Processes
These processes are social expectations about racial and class groups, the behaviours for each gender, the
nature of sexual orientation... and their effect on the family. In many ways, this is like The Family
Projection Process scaled up to the level of a society as a whole. Families that deal with prejudice,
discrimination, and persecution must pass on to their children the ways they learned to survive these factors.
The coping practices of the parents and extended family may lead to more or less adaptive emotional health
for the family and its members.
Each concept in Bowen theory applies to nonfamily groups, such as work and social organizations. The
concept of societal emotional process describes how the emotional system governs behaviour on a societal
level, promoting both progressive and regressive periods in a society. Cultural forces are important in how a
society functions but are insufficient for explaining the ebb and flow in how well societies adapt to the
challenges that face them. Bowen's first clue about parallels between familial and societal emotional
functioning came from treating families with juvenile delinquents. F