This presentation describes the cultural genogram according to the work and thought of Hardy & Laszloffy. Doing a cultural genogram is an important part of becoming a competent helping professional. Emotional and psychological boundaries are central to effectiveness. Doing a cultural genogram raises subconscious processes to awareness, and thus professionals are much less likely to put their stuff on other people, including people who may be their clients and who are vulnerable.

1. Cultural Genograms
According to Hardy
& Laszloffy
Jane F. Gilgun, Ph.D., LICSW
School of Social Work
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
1404 Gortner Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108 USA
jgilgun@umn.edu
http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ssw/people/profiles/GilgunJ.asp

2. Topics
Terminology
Preparing a cultural genogram
Questions to consider
Putting it together

3. Awareness & Sensitivity
•Awareness: a cognitive kind
of noticing things
•Sensitivity: noticing and
responsiveness

4. Ethnicity & Culture
Ethnicity: The groups from
which we are descended
Culture: Ethnicity, Social Class,
Religion, Politics, Beliefs &
Practices That are Widespread

5. Preparing a Cultural
Genogram
• Define one’s culture of origin
• Identify constructs that define your ethnic
groups (do the exist other than as
stereotypes?)
• Identify pride issues connected to ethnicity
• Identify shame issues connected to ethnicity
• Selecting symbols
• Selecting colors
• Identifying interethnic marriages

6. Questions to Consider
•Migration patterns
• Early conditions of life in new
country, if other than American
Indian?
• Language issues
• Opportunities for jobs, housing, and
integration into social life?
• Expreriences with discrimination &
oppression?
•

7. Questions to Consider
• Issues that divided your ethnic
group(s), if any
• Significance of race, skin color, and
hair
• Roles of religion and spirituality
• Roles of regionality and geography?
•Gender role issues in your ethnicity?
• Sexual orientation?

8. Questions to Consider
• Stereotypes and prejudgments
• Does your group have about itself?
• Do others have about your ethnic groups?
• How do your parents and other adults in your
ethnic groups respond to these?
• Do members of your groups have about other
ethnic groups?
• Patterns of naming
• Occupations and their significance

9. Putting it Together
• Create a cultural framework chart: List the
major organizing principles, the
pride/shame issues and the symbols that
represent them
• Construct a three-generation genogram or
more

10. Discussion Questions
• What do you think?
• Is this kind of work feasible with clients?
• How important are cultural genograms to your work with
service users?
• How might cultural genograms help you to be more sensitive
to service users?
• Is it possible not to have an ethnic identity?
• How about people who came to the US on the Mayflower?
• Under what conditions might ethnic identity be a salient
identity?

11. References
• Butler, J.F. (2008). The family diagram and genogram:
Comparisons and contrasts. The American Journal of Family
Therapy, 36, 169-180.
• Foster, Martha A., Gregory J. Jurkovic, Lisa G. Ferdinand &
Lindi A. Meadows (2002). The impact of the genogram on
couples: A manualized approach. The Family Journal:
Counseling and therapy for couples and families. 10(1), 34-40.
• Gilgun, Jane F. (2014). Resilience is relational. Amazon.
• Hardy, K. & Laszloffy, T.A. (1995). The cultural genogram: Key
to training culturally competent family therapists. Journal of
Marital and Family Therapy, 21(3), 227-237.