Genogram: The Hernandez Family

Social workers need to have a better understanding of family system for them to carry out an effective family relationship assessment (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). In the assessment of family relationship, a genogram is similar to a family tree and focuses on a specific aspects. This paper carries out a family relationship analysis of the Hernandez family with major focus on the elements of the family to identify the aspects that determine how Juan and Elena Hernandez address their issues with the social worker. Also, this paper analyses how a genogram can help me address the Hernandez’s family needs as a social worker.

Elements of the Hernandez Family’s Case  that may influence the way Juan and Elena Hernandez address their issue with the social worker.

Figure1: Genogram

Genogram of the Hernandez Family

In figure 1, the genogram shows the list of immediate family members Elena’s family consists of Anthony and Sofia who are the parents and other four siblings. On the other hand, hector and sophia are listed as Juans parents togethere with ihis sisters. The last layer of the genogram shows the Juan and Elena’s two children who are the six year and eight year old albertor and Juan Jr. respectively (Plummer, Makris, and Brocksen, 2014).  A social worker meets the the Hernandez family with a major concern being the report on how they discipline the behavior of Juan. Juan Jr. claims that the punishment of standing with heavy books that his paernts used was painful and her mother would add more books if she would get more angry with him. Juan narreted the ordeal and claimed he did not like the punishement (Plummer, et al., 2014). 

Elena admitted to have subjected her son to the punishment because it was based on her family culture and that is the mode of punishment that she learned as she grew up. According Elena, her family treated her like an adult by giving her chores that she did not deserve given her age. On the other hand, Juan claims that she was forced to quit school and get working papers at a tender age to generate money for the household. He adds that bills were ever frustrating his father and hence was struggling to meet the necessities of the family. From the genogram, the social worker has succeeded to unravel the history of both Juan and Elena and the reality behind the discipline they subjected their son to. Because the two were subjected to difficult times, it does not guarantee that the techniques that their parents used would work with their children. 

How the Genogram Addresses the needs of Clients

A genogram is an important toll t analyse family relationship through the amount of information that a social worker gathers. As a social worker, I have used a genogram to to determine the family relationship and environment that lead to people’s behaviors in the society. Through a genogram, it is possible to identify paths that people choose and house change cycle can be addressed. The use of genogram allows clients to relax and discuss their family background and issues and share their childhood memories (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Thus through a genogram, a social worker can be able to determine parental guidance techniques based on an individual’s background.

Conclusion

Social workers shoud understand that techniques or approcahes that are used in one family cannot be effcetive when used in the upbringing of another family. Having the idea in mind is important and forms the basis of planing a successful remedy process for a family. Familes’ medical health and environmental system issues can be addressed using a genogram . bedised, genogram can be used to determine the rootcause of prevailing issues in a family setting.

References

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
\”The Hernandez Family\” (pp. 3–5)

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Chapter 12, \”Sociological Aspects of Young and Middle Adulthood\” (pp. 549-616)