Looking at Internal Family Systems through a sociological lens could open paths to healing.
Source: cdn2.psychologytoday.com
No Such Thing as Evil
In the field of sociology, we often explore the ways in which individuals are labeled as deviant based on their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and other factors. This framework encourages empathy and understanding, recognizing that we are all subject to our responses to harm and trauma. The concept of ‘no bad parts’ aligns with this approach, highlighting that there is no such thing as inherently ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ individuals or parts within us.
Source: cdn2.psychologytoday.com
Dr. Richard C. Schwartz’s work developing the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model has gained popularity, with celebrities like Alanis Morissette and Jonathan Van Ness praising its unique abilities to heal trauma and build connection, clarity, and compassion. Clinicians, therapists, and life coaches have offered their own versions of IFS, focusing on specific topics such as motherhood, eating, and addictions.
Source: cdn2.psychologytoday.com
Sociological Constructions of Deviance
As a teacher with over 20 years of experience, I’ve encouraged my students to see the sociological constructions of deviance, recognizing that we are all deviant in some time, location, or culture. This framework helps us understand that what we consider ‘deviant’ is a social construct, rather than an inherent trait. By blurring the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them,’ we can see that there is no such thing as an ‘evil lucifer.’
In my teaching, I discuss motivations for rape and encourage my students to consider the socially constructed stigmas attached to certain people, behaviors, and identities. The IFS model highlights these elements by working to expose the humanity in us all, helping us heal trauma and live as our true Self – no evil, no bad parts, no bad people.
Sociocultural Scripts and Trauma
Sociocultural scripts about what is right or wrong can push us into thinking we are fundamentally ‘bad’ or that something is wrong with us. We may bury these parts down, only to have them become exiles that we attempt to keep at bay through other parts, like managers and firefighters. However, by getting curious about our Self and doing the work that IFS methods outline, we can unburden our trauma, understand why we feel the way we do, and heal.
Psychologist Jesse Bering writes in his book Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us, ‘It’s not easy, but digging into the darkest corners of our sexual nature (that is to say our ‘perversions’) can expose what keeps us from making real moral progress whenever the issues of equality and sexual diversity arise.’
Sociology and IFS
The framework of IFS already embeds sociological thinking, encouraging us to consider how our elements from our childhood, especially trauma through our relationships with others, may have shaped our difficulties in adulthood. Highlighting the significance of family structure, Schwartz writes, ‘context is everything.’ By pushing us to look within – at our parts – IFS is simultaneously encouraging us to look at our relationships with others and contextualize them within larger sociocultural constructs.
Thinking about our Self in society, or sociologically locating one’s Self, gives us a path toward healing. By understanding the sociocultural scripts that shape our experiences and the ways in which trauma is constructed, we can begin to heal and live as our true Self.
