Introduction
A genogram is a representation of different relationships and medical conditions within a particular family. Therefore, a genogram uses symbols and different colors to aid users in visualizing different family relationships, social relationships, emotional relationships, and the hereditary patterns within a given family (Santrock, 2010, p. 7). In addition, a genogram shows the psychological factors that influence relationships in various families. As a result, a genogram assesses the hereditary and behavioral patterns, which are usually repetitive within lineages.
Conversely, a genogram is useful in genealogy, psychology, family therapy, psychiatry, and education because it helps different practitioners in these fields to explain various family dynamics and medical conditions concerning their clients. Therefore, a genogram helps psychologists to obtain information concerning clients and their families so that they can address various issues involving their clients from the perspective of the prevailing emotional relationships, family relationships, hereditary patterns, and marital relationships (Santrock, 2010). This essay presents a summary and analysis of my family’s genogram by assessing the interaction and the impact of environmental factors, genetics, and heredity on my family and me.
A Summary of my Family Genogram
My family has several strengths particularly in education, which can be traced back to my paternal grandparents and my mother who is an educationist to date. Therefore, education was held with high esteem in my family, and getting educated was very crucial to us. As a result, my sibling and I attended college whereby we obtained a good education. On the other hand, my father served in the Army, and from that environment and experience, I also served in the Army for more than two decades. Additionally, I inherited some physical features from my parents and grandparents such as my round-shaped head and dimples in my cheeks, which can be traced back to my grandmother and mother respectively. Moreover, I am five feet and nine inches tall and I think that I took the height from my father who is six feet and three inches tall.
Furthermore, my family has a strong foundation in religious belief because the bible and praying are essential tools in our day-to-day life, which can also be traced back to both sides of my grandparents. Therefore, the tradition of attending church, having faith in God, and praying characterizes all three generations of my family. On the other hand, my family will always remember God during family crises and this culture has kept the family close for decades. It then follows that my family depends on education and religion to improve its wellbeing and status in society.
Analysis of the Genogram
In developmental psychology, the concept of human development entails a pattern of growth, transition, and decline in the life of a human being, which begins at conception and ends with death (Santrock, 2010, p. 1). On the other hand, the lifespan perspective of human development examines the changes that take place at each level of human development relative to the environment (Society, family, and culture) and genetic factors that influence the developmental changes. Therefore, the lifespan perspective is multidimensional (biological, socio-emotional, and cognitive), plastic, and multidirectional. In addition, the characteristics of the lifespan perspective can be illustrated using different theories or perspectives of human development and the historical view of human nature, which also form a strong framework for analyzing my family genogram.
According to Santrock (2010), there are four different perspectives of human nature, which determine the way parents rear their children. These perspectives include Preformationism, the Original Sin, Innate Goodness, and the Tabula Rasa. However, the viewpoints that hold a lot of weight in the current analysis involve the Original Sin and the Tabula Rasa. Here, the viewpoint of the Original Sin posits that all children are born with a sin that predisposes them to the development of evil characteristics more than good ones as they grow (Santrock, 2010). Therefore, the viewpoint explains the origin of a strong religious belief in our family because my parents and grandparents realized the need to guide and discipline their children to ensure that they are morally upright and to guarantee them the ultimate salvation from the original sin.
Conversely, the Tabula Rasa viewpoint states that the brain of young children can be likened to a blank sheet of paper. Therefore, parents have to ensure that they teach their children good virtues and give them the opportunity to have a brighter future by educating them. As a result, the process of teaching children and shaping their behavior entails rewarding them for behaving well and punishing them when they show resistance (Santrock, 2010, p. 23). In fact, the practice of shaping behaviors in children is captured in B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theory, which posits that when children are rewarded for their good behaviors, they are more likely to repeat the behavior than when they are punished (Santrock, 2010). Consequently, the viewpoint explains why education forms the backbone of my family. That is, my grandparents must have realized the benefits of having a good education, which they handed down to their children and grandchildren.
However, in contemporary developmental psychology, there are three major issues underlying human development. These are nature vs. nurture, stability vs. change, and continuity vs. discontinuity (Santrock, 2010). Here, the issue that holds a lot of weight in the current analysis is the concept of nature vs. nurture. Therefore, the issue of nature vs. nurture plays a pivotal role in assessing the influence of heredity (the transfer of genetic factors and information from parents to their offspring) and the environmental factors (society, family, and culture) in the lifespan perspective of human development. Here, the nature theory states that human beings can inherit behavioral characteristics besides the physical features such as the round-shaped head, tallness, and dimples from their parents and grandparents. Therefore, behavior is a product of some inheritable genetic factors. On the other hand, the nurture theory implicates the social experiences and interactions in the development of different individual behaviors.
Conversely, studies show that the two theories are partly involved in the development of different human behaviors and characteristics (Santrock, 2010). Here, the role played by the nature theory in the development of human behavior is captured in the scientific view, which states that different human characteristics such as personality and intelligence are transferred from parents to their offspring through an individual’s DNA (Santrock, 2010). However, despite the increased likelihood of human behaviors being pre-determined, different individuals have the freedom to choose different behavioral characteristics through interacting and learning from their immediate environments. Therefore, the nurture theory is crucial in shaping the pre-determined behaviors to fit different circumstances. For instance, the long-standing history of educationists in our family played a major role in ensuring that all three generations obtained a good education. In addition, because my father was in the military, I had to choose between becoming an educator and serving in the military. As a result, the genetic make-up of an individual can play a role in shaping behavioral and physical characteristics in different aspects. However, the interaction between genetics and environmental factors does influence an individual’s behavioral orientations and thoughts under different circumstances.
Conclusions
This essay presents a summary and analysis of my family genogram relative to the interaction and impact of environmental factors, genetics, and heredity on my family and me. From the summary of my family genogram, it is notable that there are two major strengths in my family, which can be traced back to both sides of my grandparents. These strengths include education and a strong belief in religion. On the other hand, the analysis of the genogram identifies several theories in developmental psychology, which present different viewpoints points of the prevailing relationships in my family. Therefore, a genogram plays a major role in helping different individuals in the family to identify their weaknesses and strengths so that they can work towards improving or maintaining them and passing them down the family tree.
Reference
Santrock, J.W. (2010). A topical approach to life-span development (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.