Describes the historical context of a systems approach to the family; defines basic systems concepts with emphasis on their application to the family; and describes some axioms of human communication theory and the role they play in understanding family communication from a systems viewpoint. (PD)

Reviews research to date dealing with attempts to conceptualize a framework for analysis of communication skills acquired in early childhood years. (MH)

Compared the interaction of normal families and families with a drug-abusing member in order to describe the differences in their communication patterns. Concluded that addict families generally display more rigid communication patterns than do normal families. (PD)