7.2 Using Genograms in Assessment |
- Complete them jointly with applicant/s and with children present– best if use large sheet of paper and use this as a tool throughout assessment process
- Get as much information on the genogram as possible
- Make notes for yourself about any information, patterns or gaps that need to be followed up
- Make sure to ask for clarification and ask “difficult questions”
- It is a good idea to do one on your own family before doing one with someone else
- Make the diagram
- Applicants reflect on it: what strikes them, any shocks, memories
- Social Worker analysis: intergenerational patterns (over 4 generations if possible) for example of loss, openness re feelings, types of marriage, patterns, secrets, closeness
A Selection of possible questions on different topics
- How do family members think about each other?
- Who was named for whom in the family?
- Coincidences between births, deaths, moves/migration, life cycle events
- Family rituals
- Family myths
- Spoken or unspoken rules
- In what areas does your family keep secrets, and how are they maintained?
- Impact of secrets on family relationships
- What are the rules of communication in your family, what topics are taboo?
- Which members are/were always in conflict?
- Are there rules about gender?
- How do family members react to change or stress?
- What were the major family triangles – were these repeated over generations?
- How are feelings expressed about stress, illness and death?
- Did family “cut offs” (leaving home, losing contact) occur around the time of death?
- What beliefs do family members have that may help sustain them in the face of loss?
- What kind of relationship did each of your parents have with each of their parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends?
- What are the family attitudes towards work, leisure?
- Were there ways in which your mother/women in family conform or do not conform to stereotypes of mother? (ditto: father/men in family)
- How were siblings in your family expected to behave: pals, rivals, partners, opposites?
- Are any siblings estranged – if so what issues were involved?
- Did parents identify with same sex or opposite sex siblings?
- Can you tell anything about a family values and patterns by labels that different siblings had?
- What are the stories told in your family about how couples got together? What are the underlying dreams and fears about marriage? What messages are passed on through the generations?
- What unresolved issues from the families of origin did members of your family bring into their marriages?
- What are the typical patterns of marriage – power struggles?
- Typical gender patterns in marriage?
- Are partners from same class, ethnic background?
- How do couples negotiate the use of time, space, money, holidays, relationships with in-laws?
- Are the family norms about marriage the dominant norm for society or the family culture?
With reference to: Monica McGoldrick: You can go home again (see booklist).
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