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Louise Rauseo, RN, MS, CS
This report of family adaptation to extreme poverty brings questions and new data to an understanding of fusion and togetherness. This paper proposes that some life circumstances may, in themselves, increase the level of fusion in a family in an effort to reduce anxiety and to promote survival of the group. The family history suggests that “all for one and one for all” may be an automatically programmed response to survival needs that may necessarily limit individual freedom to think separately and live independently of the group. While some families can make use of a high level of togetherness to survive extreme poverty or other challenges to health and survival, there is variation in the outcomes in succeeding generations. The opportunity to study these phenomena can add to the accuracy, depth, and breadth
of Bowen theory.
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