Genogram
A genogram is an expanded family tree. In a family tree all members of a family are graphically
illustrated with the use of relatively few words. The genogram assignment consists of 4
components: worksheet, family tree, kinship network, and interview.
A.
Worksheet (15 points) Due Nov 12, 2009
Create a worksheet with the following information:
 Name of each person in your family
 Birth date of each person
 Birth place of each person
 Occupation of each person when applicable
 Marriage dates, separation dates, divorce dates, cohabiting dates, end cohabiting dates, and
extramarital affairs dates for each person – for each relationship, when applicable
 Illnesses and disabilities for each person, when applicable
 Death dates for each person, when applicable
 Three traits for each person
Traits can be
 behavioral: things that people do, such as bowler or librarian
 psychological: how people behave, such as selfish or playful
 physical: how people look, such as petite or clean-shaven
List at least three traits for each person on your family tree (it does not have to be one
trait of each type).
 Distinguishing characteristics, accomplishments, military service, etc.
 Any other information that has meaning for you
B.
Family Tree (25 points) Due Nov 19, 2009
Use any size paper, poster board, etc. (as long as I can carry it home)
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Map 3 generations (4 if you have children)
G1 – Your grandparents, step-grandparents, etc.
G2 – Your parents and all of their spouses and cohabitants, and all of your parents siblings
G3 – You and all of your siblings, stepsiblings, etc.
G4 – Your children, stepchildren, etc.
Do NOT include:
 your great aunts and uncles (your grandparents’ siblings)
 your parents’ siblings’ spouses (aunts or uncles who married your parents brothers and
sisters)
 cousins
EXCEPTIONS: anyone who was extremely important to your upbringing or is very important in
your life now
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The following information will help you in constructing your family tree.
Symbols that depict family members.
male
female
pregnancy
stillbirth
spontaneous
induced
abortion
To identify your self, double the square or circle
In heterosexual relationships the male is drawn on the left and the female is drawn on the right.
Use solid lines for marital relationships, use dotted lined for non-marital relationships.
married
unmarried
In homosexual relationships the couple is drawn with either person on the left.
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Children are drawn on lines that extend down from the couple’s connective time line. Because
the couple’s connective time line marks the passage of time the oldest child is drawn on the left
and the youngest child is drawn on the right. A biological child is a solid line, an adopted or
foster child is a dashed line, and twins extend from the same point.
biological
adopted
youngest
or foster
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twins
oldest
middle
Each person and relationship will have a few pieces of information on the family tree.
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birthdate 1936, arrow pointing to the right
death date 1982, arrow pointing to the left
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X indicates death, the number inside the box is the age at death (not year of death)
m 45
year of marriage
s 81
year of separation
/
d 86
//
a single slash on the relational time line indicates a separation
year of divorce
a double slash on the relational time line indicates a divorce
c 73
year of cohabiting
nc 79
ended cohabiting
xm 65
extramarital affair
close relationship
enmeshed relationship
estranged or cut off relationship
conflictual or very poor relationship
Examples
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//
Husband with 1 ex-wife and 1 current wife, 1 child from the 1st marriage, 1 child from the 2nd.
//
Man and woman divorced with 1 child together, husband remarried with 1 child, wife in
cohabiting relationship with 1 child. Each child is from a different relationship.
45
49
94
52
m 68
s 84
/
69
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d 87
//
71
75
The husband was born in 1949 and died in 1994 at the age of 45. The wife was born in 1952
and is still living. They were married in 1968 and had 3 daughters in 1969, 1971, and 1975.
They separated in 1984 and divorced in 1987. The father and 1st daughter had a relationship
that was emotionally cut off. The father and 3rd daughter had a relationship that was conflictual.
The 1st and 2nd daughters have an emotionally close relationship.
Place each person’s first name next to his/her symbol.
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David
Agnes
C.
My Kinship Network (30 points) Due Dec 1, 2009
 Identify and describe any trends your family may have (e.g., early age at marriage, early age
at death, family size). If you can not identify any trends ask a friend to look at it or ask me.
Some families do not seem to have any trends. That’s fine if your family does not have
any, just make sure you mention this in your paper.
 Describe the influence your family has had on your life. How has your family, in general,
influenced your educational choices, sexuality, career choices, dating partners, etc.?
 Describe how your ethnicity and religion has influenced your life choices.
 Discuss the best part about growing up in your family.
 Discuss what you would change if you could turn back time.
 Who has been the most influential person in your life and how has that person influenced
you (it doesn’t have to be a family member and there may be more than one person)?
 What have you learned about life choices that you want to pass along to someone (your
children or someone else)?
In the past, students have written 1½ to 3 pages for this section.
D.
Interview (30 points) Due Dec 8, 2009
Interview someone in your family. Write up at least 10 questions to ask your relative. Bring
these questions to class on Dec 1 to discuss with the class. Make an appointment with your
interviewee and be on time for the interview. Tape record the interview or take comprehensive
notes. Questions should be open-ended, such as:
“Tell me what your life was like growing up during the depression”
“Describe your childhood in Ireland”
“What was it like riding the rails?”
You already know this person’s birthdate, birthplace, distinguishing characteristics, military
service, illnesses, relationship information, any children, occupation, traits, etc. from the earlier
portions of this genogram. Record this information in the interview write-up. You may use any
format you like to write-up the interview (for example, type each question and the answer to it,
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or write a story incorporating all of the information from the interview. Make sure to include the
questions at the end of the write-up in this case.) This section might run as much as 10 pages
if your interviewee has a lot to say, but should be at least 3 pages. If your interviewee is prone
to very short answers, you may have to prompt him/her. For example, if you say “Tell me what
your life was like growing up during the depression” and your interviewee says, “It was very
hard”, you can say, “Exactly what was hard about it?” Prompting with additional questions is
sometimes needed to get information, but if your interviewee obviously doesn’t want to reveal
information about a specific topic, move along to the next question. If he/she is hesitant about
all or most of your questions, find another person to interview. Do not wait until the night before
the assignment is due to interview someone.
The purpose of this assignment is not to find out all of the family secrets, but to learn about
your family. The best people to interview are people from a different generation than you. If
you are in your 20s then interview an older member of your family (grandparents, and great
aunts and uncles). If you are in your 60s interview your grandchildren, great nieces and
nephews. If no one in your entire family will talk to you, see me.
You may interview several family members to put together a more complete history for extra
credit.
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When grading the sections that make up this assignment I am looking for:
 Competent use of the English language, correct spelling, and correct punctuation.
 A sense that you worked on this thoughtfully and didn’t throw it together overnight.
 Complete answers for every section.
When grading the family tree I am looking for:
 Dates for every person and relationship.
 Indication of who you are.
 Male/female symbols in the correct position, siblings in the correct order.
 Relationship connections (conflictual, close, etc.).
 Creativity (it’s a lot more interesting to look at something that is bright and colorful than a
pencil drawing on a piece of notebook paper).
Late assignments will be marked down 5% per class session late.
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