3 generation genogram with divorce4/5/2024 ![]() My role has changed slightly since he has grown, which has led to conflict. Since my parents worked long hours, I was responsible for picking him up from school, driving him to various after-school sports and playdates, and sometimes preparing dinner for him. As an older sister, I have been providing nurturing and emotional support since the day my brother was born. In the context of my family, we distiguish subsystems by generations and their functions. ![]() This would indicate a diffuse boundary between subsystems. It is important to consider boundaries between family subsystems because problems often arise when the roles or tasks of each subsystem become blurred with those of other subsystems (Theyer, 2012). Rigid boundaries exist when members of a family are isolated from eachother, and diffuse boundaries blur the lines between certain subsystems. In terms of internal boundaries, adaptive boundaries represent highly functional families (Fish & Priest, 2011). Boundaries can be adaptive, rigid, or diffuse. External boundaries distinguish the family system as a whole from other systems, while internal boundaries delineate subsystems within the family (Fish & Priest, 2011). This experience exemplifies how our traditional family structure had to be altered in order to meet my brother and I’s needs for guidance, support, and nurturance.Ī family structure is maintained by boundaries. In this case, my grandmother was brought in from the extended family subsystem into the parental subsystem. ![]() My grandmother compensated for the parental deficiency and became a source of strength for my brother and I. Eventually, we began to value extended family support. We became allies, and kept each other company in the midst of dysfunction. This only made our sibling subsystem stronger. Our mom and dad directed mcuh of their focus to stabilizing their own marital subsystem, and less of their attention toward us. The family was no longer balanced and healthy, and my brother and I faced the repercussions. With increased tension in my parent’s marriage, their parental subsystem began to weaken. Prior to their seperation, each subsystem within the family was strong and adhered to it’s specifc function. My parents got a divorce when I was eight years old. Within the traditional nuclear family, there is typically a parental subsytem, sibling subsytem, marital subsystem, and extended family subsystem (Hutchinson, 2017). Distinct roles or tasks exist within every subsystem (Hutchinson, 2017). Understanding these patterned relationships can help one to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a family system. Within family systems theory, members of the family are interdependent as they are affected by one another (Collins, Jordan & Coleman, 2013). Rather than viewing each family member as an individual, they are considered as part of an overall context (Collins, Jordan & Coleman, 2013). My family genogram was a helpful tool for me as I identified the complexity of my own family lineage, as well as some patterns within the system.įamily systems theory views family as a social system. Lastly, it will identify one underlying theme within my family that has impacted the way in which we seperate ourselves from the nuclear family model.Īs a social worker, genograms will become critical tools when it comes to understanding relationships within a family system. It will illustrate certain times in my childhood that exemplify how my family system operated in terms of subsytems, rules, and intergenerational patterns. This paper will provide a three-generation genogram of my family that illustrates strong alliances and boundaries within my family system. Families can be created through adoption, children can be raised by gay parents, or in my case, families can be broken apart by divorce and rebuilt with stepparents and stepsiblings. With many families of the 21st century no longer fitting the nuclear family model of the 1950’s, society is grasping the more modern family dynamic. However, for better or for worse, this “traditional” family tree is no longer the norm. Each branch seems to be appropriately connected, lacking any flaws, cracks, or separated limbs. At the top are two grandparents, extending next to a generation of coupled up heterosexual adults, followed by the youngest generation. The “traditional” nuclear family is often depicted as a tree.
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