BY:

ANGEL IVY GASAL

NOR-HYNIE LAGLAG
• According to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Family
is “a group of individuals living under one roof and
usually under one head”
Filipino sociologist Belen T. G. Medina, PhD defined family
as “two or more persons who share resources, share
responsibility for decisions, share values and goals, and
have a commitment to each other over time”
1. THE NUCLEAR OR TRADITIONAL FAMILY
➢is comprised of a father, a mother, and their
offspring/s.
➢The father in the traditional family plays the role of
the breadwinner while the mother stays at home to
manage the house and the children.
➢Contemporary lifestyle are changing this traditional
set-up, with the reversal of roles between the mother
and the father.
➢We now have families where the mother is the breadwinner,
while the farther, also called as “househusband”, manages
the home.

➢Another variation of the traditional family is where both

husband and wife are working and earning a living for the
family while entrusting their growing child or children to
hired caregivers or relatives.

➢Adopted children are also considered as part of the

nuclear or traditional family.
➢The single parent who rears the child or children while earning for the
offspring/s.
➢This single parent may be supported by relatives or hired caregivers to take
care of the growing children, which is now a common occurrence in many
Asian countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong.
➢A Filipino single parent may be assisted financially by the parents or
relatives.
➢Sometimes, the single parent will decide on cohabiting with a partner who is
not the biological parent of the child.
➢The cohabiting partner may not
necessarily reside with a single
parent and the child.
➢Is a very common family arrangement found in many parts of the
world and most particularly in Asia.

➢Is the nuclear family plus the parents of either the husband or the
wife, or both their parents, depending on the arrangements they
make.

➢Sometimes, a single brother or sister of

either one of the couple may also be
part of the extended family.
➢If there is a need for household help, the first option is to seek out
a poorer relative from the provinces to serve the family’s needs.

➢There could exist some friction when it comes to making decisions.

Traditionally, the man of the house is the breadwinner and often
makes most of the decisions related to family affairs.

➢However, with the presence of the couple’s parents, the decision-

maker may vary at times.
➢Is just the couple without any child or
children, and who may be living all by
themselves. They may or may not have
household help assisting around the house.
New variations of the basic family structures:
• Interracial marriages
• Adoptive families
• Same-sex marriages
1. NUCLEAR OR TRADITIONAL FAMILY
—The values, social skills, and behavior are
directly learned from the parents. These are
expressed in their unique parenting styles, the
nature of parental authority they practice, and
the general atmosphere at home.
2. SINGLE PARENT FAMILY
— The absence of one parent may
create an impact on the growing
child who would normally look up to
authority as role models.
3. EXTENDED FAMILY
— Have both positive and negative influences on the
child. The presence of grandparents provides the
child a sense of anchoring or rooting to the family’s
history; thus, enabling the child to appreciate family
heritage and traditions. On the other hand, the
presence of grandparents may create some
confusion to a child, particularly when the
biological parents may adopt a parenting style
that is opposite of the grandparents.
AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING – is a key factor in
the psychosocial development of an adolescent,
and it is believed to foster a healthy and positive
impact on the adolescent’s development.
AUTHORITATIVE PARENTS – are those who insist
on their child learning important values, norms, and
rules, but are also willing to sit down to listen and
negotiate with them should they resist.
• Learning takes place through observation
• Mental states are important to learning
• Not all learning can lead to changes in
behavior.
Characteristics that are influence by heredity
and by the environment:
• Obesity/leanness
• Intelligence
Environmental factors that can affect intelligence:
• Proper nutrition during pregnancy
• childhood
 – is a graphical map of a family’s history that
traces and illustrates patterns in its structure and
characteristics using special symbols to describes
relationships, major events, diseases, traditions,
social and personal beliefs and rituals, cultural
heritage, religious beliefs, value systems,
philosophies about life, and the dynamics of a
family over several generations.
• Physical characteristics such as skin tone, shapes of eyes, nose,
and ears, hair type, baldness, disease tendencies, etc.
• Genetic or external factors such as artistic, musical, or literary
abilities, sports abilities, and personality traits like being
reserved and introverted, being friendly, being spendthrift, etc.
• Social and economic backgrounds such as occupation or
careers, educational level, club memberships, school affiliations,
political affiliations, and others.
• Religious values including religious affiliations, religious
practices, and religious beliefs.
• Family values like family cohesion, exclusivity,
educational attainment, respect for elders, etc.
• Cultural background such as provincial origins,
languages or dialects spoken, social skills like table
manners, family traditions, how family members got
their names, favored cuisines and special food served,
world views such as the practice of feng shui, karma,
superstitions, etc.

(Tracing Family Traits Using a Genogram by

Cynthia Doxey Green, Ph.D.)
STEPS IN CREATING YOUR FAMILY GENOGRAM:

STEP 1: Ask yourself this first question: What is my purpose of

creating a genogram? If this is clear with you, then you can
start creating a list of persons in your family that will be part
of the genogram. You may also start collecting relevant
information that are easily accessible to you like your parents,
siblings, close relatives, and friend. To serve as an example, let
us trace the height characteristics of your family. Determine
how to categorize heights, like 4.9 inches and below may be
categorized as SHORT, 5.0 inches to 5.6 inches may be
categorized as MEDIUM, and 5.7 inches and up as TALL.
STEP 2: Next decision that you have to make is to determine the
number of generations you would like to be represented in
your genogram. In our example, let us trace up to your
maternal and paternal grandparents generation. So now, list
down all the persons who will form your genogram:
1. Grandparents on your mother’s side
2. Grandparents on your father’s side
3. Your parents
4. Your parent’s siblings
5. Your siblings
6. Your first cousins
STEP 3: You may start your research by asking your
parents and grandparents where they took after
with their heights.

STEP 4: Now you can design your genogram. There are

plenty of genogram templates available online, or
you may want to do the diagram free-hand. If you
are using free-hand, there are diagrams you need
to use that will represent different things.
STEP 5: Connect the symbols with lines. Using the illustration given,
you may now connect the different symbols you used. Single
lines indicate unions or marriages. Double lines will indicate
separation or divorce.
STEP 6: Use representative symbols for the different height
categories you made. Here is a simple representation of these
height categories:
a. S – for short
b. M – for medium
c. T – for tall
You may place these letters inside the squares and boxes for
easy visual identification.
STEP 7: Look at your chart and identify if there
are patterns. Find out if these are
consistent. If not, you might have missed
some information regarding a person or
a family. Patterns are helpful in
explaining the height differences in your
family.
• Remember that there are some people, even if they are your
relatives, who may be sensitive about a certain physical trait, like
height. Approach your research by asking questions with sensitivity.
• Clarify with your family members that the genogram you are
making is to help you understand certain family traits,
characteristics, events, marital situations, diseases, other sensitive
topics, and explain to hem that you are not judging them about the
situations.
• Consider talking to a professional when making a genogram on
heredity problems, for example.
• be careful with your conclusions after you have done your
genogram. These might offend some relatives.