Family Genogram Essay

1078 Words5 Pages

Genograms are a great way to organize different subtypes of your family. You can organize a genogram with generations, authority, power, and age. When I organized my family in these groups I realized that age sometimes does not correlate to how much power the family member may have. I thought I knew everything about my family members and their roles but, after doing this assignment it made me make better conclusions why some people have more say than other do in the family. Genograms also helps make connections why you are not as close to some family members but closer to others. Vygotsky states the definition of authority is, “All the hierarchical relationships that give one person decision- making authority and superiority control over another.” …show more content…

I know that economic status is not talked about in this lecture or reading but I think it is the biggest factor that predicts the cohesion and power status in my family. For example, my grandparents are the most economically stable people in my family genogram therefore they are on the second tier of power and that is why they are not very close to my mother (their daughter). Vygotsky states, “Theory suggest that the boundaries between the individual and the eveiroment are much less clear than one might infer from most other theories of human development. I direct attention in shaping and orientating cognition, thus brining the study of cognitive development into much greater harmony with concepts of psychosocial theory than are seen in Piaget’s theory.” (Newman, 38). This explains that there is a border in the people thata re on top of my genogram versus the people that are the bottom. For example, my father and I are very close but my sisters are very jealous that I help make the big family decisions with my dad and they can’t. Therefore, I do feel tension between my sisters and I because of this genogram problem. My sisters make the excuse that I am the youngest sister so I always get my way but I think the underline meaning is that I have more of an authoritative personality like my father. Everyone is equally in some ways in my family with everyone has a say but when it comes to spending money my family is not