Insystemstheory,thefamilyistreatedasawholethatcannotbereducedtothesumofthecharacteristicsofitsmembers Whatcharacterizesthefamilyasasystemisratherthespecifictransactionalpatternsitreflects Everyfamily,consideredasatransactionalsystem,tendstorepeatthesepatternswithahighfrequencyandconsequentlygivesrisetoredundancies Thelatterenabletheobservertodeducetherules,oftensecretandgenerallyimplicit,govern