Three Generations Research Paper

Making a genogram can enhance one’s training as a helping professional by laying out points in a person’s life and family that have caused distress and could affect practice in the future. By self realizing the crisis points in one’s family it can help to identify triggers that could lead to countertransference as well as resurfacing of old traumas during counseling or leading a group. Plotting out one’s life is a way to organize a family especially if there are multiple marriages of parents and non-traditional family ties within a standard family tree. By knowing where you come from and the experiences that shape your family you can better

This approach believes that all aspects of development of the person should be looked at, as they all interact with one another (7). In this theory you have: microsystems, exosystems, macrosystems, chronosystems, and mesosystems. Microsystems being what we commonly consider to be the “nurture” of a child, family and caregivers. Exosystems are places such as school, macrosystems consist of the economy, politics, and the cultural values placed by parents or by geographic location, and chronosystem is the time or era that the child is being brought up in (7). Then there is the mesosystem which is the combining of all other groups. This belief is similar to that of epigenetics, all aspects interact with one another to create the fully developed human

It comes down to focusing on what is the cause of the problem and what needs to be done to resolve it. Some assumptions that are related to this theory can include families normally related to one another in “patterned ways that are observable and predictable” (Linblad-Goldberg & Northey, 2013), most families have rules that each must follow and roles they are to play in the family unit, when they get off balance then dysfunction can and normally does occur. It is important that families have boundaries which include both inside and outside of the family. Families also have subsystems which can be based on either generation or genders.

The two theories I have chosen are the Structural Functional theory and the Family Development theory. The Family Development theory as defined in the powerpoint is the family life cycle divided into universal stages. There are developmental tasks at each stage which will affect future functioning. The Structural Functional theory is a family as a subsystem of the greater social system. This theory strives for equilibrium.

The final stage is the “family in later life”. During this stage, individuals must accept the shifting of generational roles, as they become the grandparents. They must be able to let go of some power to their offspring as they find their new place in the family system. Dealing with this change while facing potential decline in health, financial security, and loss of spouse can be stressful. Grandparenthood can be a reward substitute (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p. 20).

Family dynamics can have a positive effect on child’s development because the child will feel settle and have a positive input into their lives and good support to help them develop and achieve what they want to achieve, this has a positive effect on their behaviour to. If family dynamics are negative then this have a negative affect on their developments such as divorce because the child may be spending time at different house and having one parent missing so they will feel unsettled and not able to concentrate on things. They may also experience missing one of their parents of relatives being in prison.

Today genograms are used in psychology and medical settings to identify the connection between families and identify how members of the family communicate with one another. There are several types of genograms that created for many reasons such as ethical, career, and sexual. This genogram helps an individual map out the connection of their contextual history with their framework. My experience of creating a genogram was an amazing feeling and it helped me discover several factors that occur in life as an adult. The interview with mom helps me to identify a lot of unknown features that can be possible genetically transmitted to my children. During my genogram creation, a few explanations of conflicts were discussed according to family member’s characteristics and beliefs. Discovery of my genogram alerts me with the many personalities that I share with my family. While reading this book I was eager to finish the book because of the interested information that was listed to help me understand my developmental structures.

Theories, and the understanding of theories is important for three reasons; First they let us know where we as a society were at in terms of what was considered a normal and abnormal family for previus generations. Second they show us as current researchers what those researchers of the past used in terms of material, populations, and the process of how research was conducted. Finally, they give us, as researchers and as both researchers and people foundations to build upon. With these foundations we are able to connect current phenomenon to theories and thus for able to better categorize current research.

On Tuesday, April 5, 2016 I interview Karla Bly who lives in Sioux Center. Mrs. Bly is married and has four children between the ages 25 and 12. She is 48 years old and has lived in Iowa for her entire life. The stage of life that Karla is in is middle adult hood, it is defined as, “The developmental period beginning at approximately 40 years of age and extending to about 60 to 65 years of age. For many people. Middle adult-hood is a time of declining physical skills and expanding responsibility.” (Santrock, 336) When Karla was in her 20’s and 30’s she thought that she knew everything, but it turned out that she did not know everything yet. When she was in her 20’s she had three little children running around at home, things were busy and chaotic.

Genograms are used to graphically represent a family tree and display detailed data on relationships among the individuals included in the family tree. In essence, families are complex systems that interact with kin groups in specific ways, and a genogram helps to show a diagram of a family tree, but also maps out interactions, relationships, traits, and characteristics that may otherwise not be noticed. The purpose of a genogram is to identify and understand patterns in family history which may influence an individual’s personal behavior and traits. Family Systems Theory, presented by Dr. Murray Bowen, suggests that an individual cannot be understood in isolation from their family members. According to Dr. Bowen, the family is an emotional

Many of the concepts and or methods of this theory serve and techniques. The techniques used in the Bowen Theory are detriangulation which may be the most significant technique in the Bowen therapy (Kerr, & Bowen, p. 150). A counselor will determine how they will detriangulate based on the emotional process within the family. The Nonanxious Presence, is directly correlated to the self-awareness of the counselors own family-of-origin. It is important for the counselor to have acknowledged and worked through their own family issues before delving into the Nonanxious Presence technique (cite). Genograms serve as an assessment tool provide a lens into the family tree and is beneficial for the client as well as the

The objective of doing the genogram is to get to know the patient by gaining understanding of his/her family background. Assessing the family using systemic approach enables health care providers to learn about the ways in which family members interact, what are the family expectations and norms, how effective is the members communication, who makes decisions and how the family deals with life time stressors (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2007). This paper outlines the assessment and analysis of the three generation of Wits’ and Smiths’ families, its relationship, health pattern, habits, tradition and structure. It also provides a nursing teaching plan. The interview was conduced with Alina Wit, a second generation mother of three.

In Erik Erikson theory this stage is “Achieving a sense of generativity while avoiding self-absorption and stagnation (middle-age)” (Crisp and Taylor 2010, p.149). This stage is described as the focus of raising children and to sacrifice their own needs for others. (Crisp and Taylor 2010, p.149). Mrs Green may find that her relationship with her children is stronger, and may have a very active social life as she may be getting ready to retire from work (Koutoukidis, Stainton & Hughson 2013, p.224).

The specific issue that I am focusing on is divorce. I have identified the generation pattern by performing a structured interview with my client. My interview took about an hour to complete. However according to Journal of Family Social Work, the average time for genogram interviews was 20 min. After performing the structural interview, I was able to create a genogram to visually show Mickey the divorce pattern in his family generations. Mickey mouse last three generations have all gotten a divorce, just as he did. This allowed myself and Mickey to know that it has become a pattern in his family and gave us a starting point for what issue to address. After displaying the genogram to him, he asked me to try and locate the start of the drug abuse in his family. This was something that he wanted to know because he was upset with his fifteen-year-old son drug use.

Throughout the Human Behavior and the Social Environment course, we have encompassed the many stages of the life cycle process. Now that I am twenty two years old, I found the early adulthood stage to be the most influential, and the most sensible one to relate to given the point that I am at in my life. More importantly, I decided to research and apply this life cycle stage to a variety of milestones, experienced by my interviewee, Chelsie. Living just houses apart, being raised by single fathers, Chelsie and I found that we had many things in common. We have remained friends since we were children, and have only grown to be closer into our early adulthood years.