New Directions in Systems Theory: Chaos and Complexity

Abstract

Systems theory has greatly advanced during the past two decades. Chaos and complexity theory and their accompanying research methods provide a new way to understand systems theory and advance more sophisticated mathematical methods for studying complex human systems. Often termed “nonlinear dynamics” because they seek to understand systems that change in ways that are not amenable to the linear cause and effect models familiar to social scientists, these theoretical perspectives are thought to have application across a wide range of social science disciplines. This article discusses the disciplines of nonlinear dynamics—chaos and complexity—in a way that is understandable and relevant to social work practitioners and researchers. The article presents an overview of some of the basic concepts from chaos and complexity theory and illustrates how these concepts are applied in practice theories, explores the relevance of nonlinear dynamics to social work, and summarizes the advantages of chaos and complexity science for social work practice and research. The authors hope that this article will provide social workers with new information that will inspire new and more empirical work on the applications of systems theory to social work practice.