Genogram

I’ve never really known a lot about the interactions of my family, but when I was doing research for the genogram project, I noticed a few trends start to emerge. Some of the dominant behavioral patterns found in my family include practicing religion, racism, getting at least a high school education, owning a business, divorce, and cohabitation.
On my Mother’s side, religion was a big part of their family. Grandpa was a Pastor and from the mountains of Virginia 1936, so Christianity was passed down through his generations and was strict in his household partly because he had been an alcoholic and by the stigma of atheists in that time period. On my Father’s side, religion wasn’t as prevalent, but they did get up and go to church every Sunday because that was the norm and a way to socialize with others. Now religion plays a bigger role in my immediate family, but not as much in my cousins lives.
Along with religion in the household, racism was also prevalent in both sides of the family. It was passed down from the parents and peers. It has been taught to the younger generation, but since they socialize with different races in school and life in general, the trend is fading out (Nasser).
The majority of both families have received their diploma, if not their G.E.D. Even Marie (my grandmother on my Father’s side) was married and pregnant before she graduated high school 1957. The general consensus for why it was important to finish high school was because “you have to finish what you start”. My family didn’t drop out to work a farm but they didn’t go to college either, in fact some thought higher education was a bad thing.
Owning a business has been one trend that has been true for both sides of my family.
William and David Self - ...

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...ings, still owning businesses. Hopefully though, racism is a trend that will die out. Analyzing my family though a sociologist's eyes has shown me that although my family has come a long way throughout history, they haven't really changed all that much.

Works Cited

"Family Patterns." - Patterns of Family Structure through the Modern Era, The Twentieth
Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Hayes, Erin. "More Americans Waiting Longer to Marry." ABC News. ABC News Network, 29 June 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Kunz, Jenifer. "Divorce." Think Marriages & Families. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 238-30. Print.

Staff, NPR. "More Young People Are Moving Away From Religion, But Why?"NPR. NPR, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Nasser, Haya El, and Paul Overberg. "Census Tracks 20 Years of Sweeping Change - USATODAY.com." USATODAY.COM. USATODAY, 10 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.