FAMILY-THERAPY WITH A MULTIPARENTAL MULTISPOUSAL FAMILY/

This article examines therapy with a Bedouin-Arab family from the Nege v, Israel, which consisted of 69 members: a husband, 8 wives, and 60 s iblings. The husband, who lived with his youngest wife, paid little at tention to his other wives and their children. There was considerable competition, hostility, and jealousy among the wives; no communication between the co-wives or the children of different wives; and a variet y of behavioral and psychosocial problems among family members. I desc ribe the varied strategies and systems involved in family therapy. The main strategies were to establish good relationships among the co-wiv es and to build a coalition among them, including the youngest wife, t hrough group therapy in a medical clinic. A secondary strategy was usi ng the children's problems to get the husband involved in the therapy. With improvement of the children's functioning, and with reduced intr a-subfamily hostility, the husband's relationships with his children, and wives improved.