Javier is the oldest son of a Mexican-American family. His parents came to the United States so that their children could attend U.S. schools. Javier did well in school and is now in his third year of medical school. Javier has fallen in love with an African-American girl, Demi, who is a nurse in the hospital where he is doing rounds. He tells his parents he is going to ask Demi to marry him. His parents tell him they will disown him if he marries her. They say that no one in their family has ever married someone who is not from Mexico. Which systems theory principle does this example not illustrate?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The example illustrates morphostasis (B) as it shows the family's desire to maintain their cultural traditions, a perturbation (C) in the form of Javier's intention to marry outside these traditions, and disequilibrium (D) as the family's reaction to this news disrupts the family's stability. However, it does not explicitly illustrate goal-directedness (A), which involves actions taken towards achieving a specific goal, unless one interprets the family's actions as aiming to preserve cultural identity, but this is not the primary focus of the example provided.

Javier Is the Oldest Son of a Mexican-American Family