Foster-Fishman Pennie G, Nowell Branda, Yang Huilan
Michigan State University, 125 D Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
Am J Community Psychol. 2007 Jun;39(3-4):197-215. doi: 10.1007/s10464-007-9109-0.
Systems change has emerged as a dominant frame through which local, state, and national funders and practitioners across a wide array of fields approach their work. In most of these efforts, change agents and scholars strive to shift human services and community systems to create better and more just outcomes and improve the status quo. Despite this, there is a dearth of frameworks that scholars, practitioners, and funders can draw upon to aid them in understanding, designing, and assessing this process from a systemic perspective. This paper provides one framework--grounded in systems thinking and change literatures--for understanding and identifying the fundamental system parts and interdependencies that can help to explain system functioning and leverage systems change. The proposed framework highlights the importance of attending to both the deep and apparent structures within a system as well as the interactions and interdependencies among these system parts. This includes attending to the dominant normative, resource, regulative, and operational characteristics that dictate the behavior and lived experiences of system members. The value of engaging critical stakeholders in problem definition, boundary construction, and systems analysis are also discussed. The implications of this framework for systems change researchers and practitioners are discussed.
系统变革已成为一种主导框架，众多领域的地方、州和国家资助者及从业者都通过这一框架开展工作。在大多数此类努力中，变革推动者和学者致力于改变人类服务和社区系统，以创造更美好、更公正的结果并改善现状。尽管如此，学者、从业者和资助者可用于从系统角度理解、设计和评估这一过程的框架却十分匮乏。本文提供了一个基于系统思维和变革文献的框架，用于理解和识别有助于解释系统功能并推动系统变革的基本系统组成部分及其相互依存关系。所提出的框架强调了关注系统内部深层和表面结构以及这些系统组成部分之间的相互作用和相互依存关系的重要性。这包括关注决定系统成员行为和生活体验的主导规范、资源、监管和运营特征。还讨论了让关键利益相关者参与问题定义、边界构建和系统分析的价值。探讨了这一框架对系统变革研究人员和从业者的影响。
