Genogram
Encyclopedia
A genogram is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history
. It goes beyond a traditional family tree
by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships. It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize hereditary tendencies.
Genograms were first developed and popularized in clinical settings by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson through the publication of a book titled Genograms: Assessment and Intervention in 1985. Genograms are now used by various groups of people in a variety of fields such as medicine
, psychiatry
, psychology
, social work
, genetic
research, education
, and many more. Some practitioners in personal and family therapy
use genograms for personal records and/ or to explain family dynamics to the client. Few if any genealogists use them.
Genogram symbols will usually have the date of birth (and date of death if applicable) above, and the name of the individual underneath. The inside of the symbol will hold the person’s current age or various codes for genetic diseases
or user-defined properties: abortions, still-births, SIDS
, cohabitations, etc.
, that their middle child is always in conflict with her mother, that their youngest has juvenile diabetes, that Uncle Paul suffered from depression
, was an alcoholic
, and a philosopher, while Aunt Lily has not spoken to her brother for years, has breast cancer and has a history of quitting her jobs.
, emotional relationships and social relation
ships. Within family relationships, you can illustrate if a couple is married, divorced, common-law, engaged, etc.
s or floor plan
layouts of the employees.
A genogram looks like a family tree
, but with all the different types of relationships, it contains a significantly more detailed and complete picture of the family or group it illustrates.
, genograms are used to record family history
through the lives of each of its members. Genograms allow the genealogist to graphically portray complex family trees that show marriages and divorces, reconstituted families
, adoptions, strained relationships, family cohesion, etc. Genealogists can use genograms to discover and analyze interesting facts about their family history, such as a naming pattern, sibling rivalry, or significant events like immigration.
, medical genograms provide a quick and useful context in which to evaluate an individual's health risks. Knowledge of diseases and conditions that occur within a family can give a health care team invaluable information that may aid in a swift, accurate diagnosis and treatment of health problems. And, a knowledge of diseases and illnesses that "run" in families can give individuals an important head start in pursuing effective preventive measures. A medical genogram is helpful in determining patterns of disease or illness within a family. Medical genograms can include many generations, however four generations may prove to be enough detail.
, genograms are used by Sociologists to gather objective and consistent information from the clients and their family, helping them to view the client’s issues in the larger context of their marital relationship, family relationships and culture of origin and underlining key issues to discuss in client counseling
. Genograms portray emotional relationships, which allow Sociologists to see and evaluate possible conflicts within the family. Psychological patterns may be detected in the genogram which provide the basis for precautionary and preventive measures that otherwise might not be warranted.
, genograms are used to display emotional bonds between individuals composing a family or social unit
. A genogram will help social workers to make an assessment of the level of cohesiveness within a family or a group and to evaluate if proper care is available within that unit. Genograms also allow displaying social relationships that illustrate the places people attend such as schools, churches, youth facilities, associations or retirement home
s.
, genograms are used to study and record relationship patterns between family members and the individual characteristics that make up these patterns that occur. A genogram will help family therapists to make an appropriate assessment of the relationship patterns and where intervention may be needed to assist the family reduce their dysfunction and/or problematic situation that brought them into therapy.
, as advanced software allows the user to include tremendous amounts of data. Genealogy software also allows the user to create detailed reports containing analysis of the information stored in each person’s individual properties. Genograms are often drawn by hand, sketched working right with the client. It is also possible to create a Genogram using MS Word.
Medical history
The medical history or anamnesis of a patient is information gained by a physician by asking specific questions, either of the patient or of other people who know the person and can give suitable information , with the aim of obtaining information useful in formulating a diagnosis and providing...
. It goes beyond a traditional family tree
Family tree
A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.-Family tree representations:...
by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships. It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize hereditary tendencies.
Genograms were first developed and popularized in clinical settings by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson through the publication of a book titled Genograms: Assessment and Intervention in 1985. Genograms are now used by various groups of people in a variety of fields such as medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
, social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
, genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
research, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and many more. Some practitioners in personal and family therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
use genograms for personal records and/ or to explain family dynamics to the client. Few if any genealogists use them.
Genogram symbols
A genogram is created with simple symbols representing the gender, with various lines to illustrate family relationships. Some genogram users also put circles around members who live in the same living spaces. Genograms can be prepared by using a complex word processor, or a computer drawing program. There are also computer programs that are custom designed for genograms.Genetic disorder
A genetic disorder is an illness caused by abnormalities in genes or chromosomes, especially a condition that is present from before birth. Most genetic disorders are quite rare and affect one person in every several thousands or millions....
or user-defined properties: abortions, still-births, SIDS
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...
, cohabitations, etc.
Genogram content
A genogram can contain a wealth of information on the families represented. It will not only show you the names of people who belong to your family lineage, but how these relatives relate to each other. For example, a genogram will not only tell you that your uncle Paul and his wife Lily have three children, but that their eldest child was sent to boarding schoolBoarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, that their middle child is always in conflict with her mother, that their youngest has juvenile diabetes, that Uncle Paul suffered from depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
, was an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and a philosopher, while Aunt Lily has not spoken to her brother for years, has breast cancer and has a history of quitting her jobs.
Family relationships
One of the advantages of a genogram is the ability to use colour-coded lines to define different types of relationships such as family relationshipsCousin chart
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
, emotional relationships and social relation
Social relation
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...
ships. Within family relationships, you can illustrate if a couple is married, divorced, common-law, engaged, etc.
Emotional relationships
Genograms may also include emotional relationships. These provide an in-depth analysis of how individuals relate to one another. Colour-coded lines represent various emotional relationships that bond individuals together.Social relationships
Another component of genograms is social relationships. These allow users to link individuals who are not related to one another, but who have a connection in society-at-large, such as neighbor, co-worker, boss-employee, pastor-church member, teacher-student, etc. Social relationships can also illustrate an individual’s relation to a social entity. The use of social relationships links allows the genogram to be used in a business environment to create organizational chartOrganizational chart
An organizational chart is a diagram that shows the structure of an organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its parts and positions/jobs...
s or floor plan
Floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....
layouts of the employees.
A genogram looks like a family tree
Family tree
A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.-Family tree representations:...
, but with all the different types of relationships, it contains a significantly more detailed and complete picture of the family or group it illustrates.
Genealogy
In genealogyGenealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
, genograms are used to record family history
Family history
Family history is the systematic narrative and research of past events relating to a specific family, or specific families.- Introduction :...
through the lives of each of its members. Genograms allow the genealogist to graphically portray complex family trees that show marriages and divorces, reconstituted families
Reconstituted family
A reconstituted family is the sociological term for the joining of two adults via marriage, cohabitation or civil partnership, who have children from previous relationships....
, adoptions, strained relationships, family cohesion, etc. Genealogists can use genograms to discover and analyze interesting facts about their family history, such as a naming pattern, sibling rivalry, or significant events like immigration.
Medicine
In medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, medical genograms provide a quick and useful context in which to evaluate an individual's health risks. Knowledge of diseases and conditions that occur within a family can give a health care team invaluable information that may aid in a swift, accurate diagnosis and treatment of health problems. And, a knowledge of diseases and illnesses that "run" in families can give individuals an important head start in pursuing effective preventive measures. A medical genogram is helpful in determining patterns of disease or illness within a family. Medical genograms can include many generations, however four generations may prove to be enough detail.
Sociology
In SociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, genograms are used by Sociologists to gather objective and consistent information from the clients and their family, helping them to view the client’s issues in the larger context of their marital relationship, family relationships and culture of origin and underlining key issues to discuss in client counseling
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
. Genograms portray emotional relationships, which allow Sociologists to see and evaluate possible conflicts within the family. Psychological patterns may be detected in the genogram which provide the basis for precautionary and preventive measures that otherwise might not be warranted.
Social work
In social workSocial work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
, genograms are used to display emotional bonds between individuals composing a family or social unit
Social unit
Social unit is a term used in sociology, anthropology, ethnology, and also in animal behaviour studies, zoology and biology to describe a social entity which is part of and participates in a larger social group or society....
. A genogram will help social workers to make an assessment of the level of cohesiveness within a family or a group and to evaluate if proper care is available within that unit. Genograms also allow displaying social relationships that illustrate the places people attend such as schools, churches, youth facilities, associations or retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
s.
Family Therapy
In family therapyFamily therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
, genograms are used to study and record relationship patterns between family members and the individual characteristics that make up these patterns that occur. A genogram will help family therapists to make an appropriate assessment of the relationship patterns and where intervention may be needed to assist the family reduce their dysfunction and/or problematic situation that brought them into therapy.
Research
In research, genograms allow researchers to understand multi generational processes within various plant and animal species, such as the development of mutations. Genograms can also illustrate rates of renewal, mechanisms of survival, or processes involved in the regulation of tolerance, among other things.Education
In education, genograms can be used by teachers and students for illustrating book reviews, or family trees of a famous politician, philosopher, scientist, musician, etc. They allow them to focus their attention on specific details and also see the big picture of the books and individuals they are studying.Creating Genograms
Genograms can be useful in almost any profession that deals with social interaction. Genograms can help to visualize complex interactions between individuals and to study patterns of behaviors or diseases. Genograms are best created with genealogy softwareGenealogy software
Genealogy software is computer software used to record, organize, and publish genealogical data. At a minimum, genealogy software collects the date and place of an individual's birth, marriage, and death, and stores the relationships of individuals to their parents, spouses, and children...
, as advanced software allows the user to include tremendous amounts of data. Genealogy software also allows the user to create detailed reports containing analysis of the information stored in each person’s individual properties. Genograms are often drawn by hand, sketched working right with the client. It is also possible to create a Genogram using MS Word.
See also
- AhnentafelAhnentafelAn ahnentafel or ahnenreihe is a genealogical numbering system for listing a person's direct ancestors in a fixed sequence of ascent...
- Cousin chartCousin chartIn kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
(Table of consanguinity) - Genetic genealogy#Genetic similarity among relatives (for general genetic similarity)
- Genealogical numbering systemsGenealogical numbering systemsSeveral genealogical numbering systems have been widely adopted for presenting family trees and pedigree charts in text format. Among the most popular numbering systems are: Ahnentafel , and the Register, NGSQ, Henry, d'Aboville, Meurgey de Tupigny, and de Villiers/Pama Systems...
- Pedigree chartPedigree chartA pedigree chart is a diagram that shows the occurrence and appearance or phenotypes of a particular gene or organism and its ancestors from one generation to the next, most commonly humans, show dogs, and race horses....
External links
- Introduction to genograms
- Genogram Analytics, software for genograms and ecomaps
- GenoproGenoProGenoPro is a software application for drawing family trees and genograms. GenoPro can store additional information such as pictures, contacts, places, sources, occupation and education history for each individual, as well as document the relationships among individuals.- History :GenoPro was...
, software for genograms. - A list of computer programs for genetic analysis including pedigree drawing programs
- Useful PDF including medical geneogram example