Essay about First and Second-Order Cybernetics

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ECOSYSTEMIC PSYCHOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 2

1. HOW IS REALITY SEEN BY EACH SPECIFIC APPROACH?
Before attempting to describe differences and similarities regarding how these two approaches view reality, the best place to begin is to define “reality”. According to Reader’s Digest Universal dictionary (1987; 1278), reality is that which exists objectively and in fact. In philosophy, it is the sum of all that is real, absolute, and unchangeable. In other words, it is something that occurs in real life and is comparable by facts, according to Baron (2012).
These definitions suggest the idea that reality is something that anyone can notice at any given time as some type of actuality or fact. However, another way of looking at reality, according to

Furthermore, therapy is based on changing the organisation of the family, thus, when the structure of the family is transformed, the relative positions of its members also changes accordingly, resulting in a change for each individual. Change in the family structure can have an effect on the behaviour and the internal psychic process of the members within the system. Change affects the member’s new circumstances and new perspective of each other and themselves in their environment. Change that occurs within the system and is consistent with the rules of the system is referred to as first-order change. Therapy is based on changing the organisation of the family because when the structure of the family is transformed, the relative positions of its members also changes accordingly, resulting in a change for each individual. In turn, change in the family structure can have an effect on the behaviour and the internal psychic process of the members within the system and affects the member’s new circumstances and new perspective of each other and themselves in their environment.
The second order approach, according to Baron (2012), highlights meaning and understanding, which is a matter of negotiation that takes place between the participants of therapy. Through language and conversation, the participants conceptualise memories, perceptions and histories and what these signify. When the rules of the system and hence the