For the better assessment of a family relationship, the healthcare provider who in this case can be the nurse or the social worker has to have a good understanding of the whole family system in entirety. As such, there are various assessment tools that can be used for this purpose. Some of these tools are the eco-map and genogram (Hull & Kirst-Ashman, 2015). While the ecomap is important as far as the whole family picture is concerned, the genogram resembles a family tree and focuses on a single area within the family. Here, a comprehensive client assessment and a genogram will be for Hernandez family’s case. The paper will dwell in the identification of the elements of this case involving Hernandez family as this may be influential in the way Elena Hernandez and Juan will be addressing the issue at hand. The paper will also provide an explanation on how the genogram may aid in addressing the needs of this particular family. The established tree of Hernandez and Juan family is located on the last page of this paper.
Identifying the Elements of the Hernandez Family Case
According to the genogram given in this case, the lists of immediate family members of Hernandez and Juan provided. The list presents Sofia and Anthony as Elena’s parents as well as the five siblings who include Elena herself (Nichols, 2014). The parents of Juan were listed as Hector and Sofia together with his sisters and Juan himself. In the last boxes at the bottom of the genogram are Juan’s and Elana’s children. These are 6-years-old Alberto and 8-years-old Juna Jr. (Plummer et al. Sessions: Case Histories, 2014). The social worker had to meet the family following reports concerning the way the parents used to discipline and correct their two kids. Juan described how his father used to punish him by having him stand with heavy books and points out that the punishment was unbearably painful. The same punishment was used by his mother and she would add even more books in the event that Juan distraught by Juan. Juan admits that he did not like the punishment as it was very painful (Plummer et al. Sessions: Case Histories, 2014). Similarly, for Elena, the same form of punishment was utilized in disciplining and correcting her since this was part of the family culture and was one of the things she learned. She accounts how she used to be viewed and treated as a grown up in her family by being assigned unreasonable house chores given her tender age (Nichols, 2014). Additionally, Juan accounts how he was pushed to drop out of school by his own parents in order to go and acquire working papers at a young age so that he can help provide for the family. He narrated how his further was possessed by bills and always worried about them. This was coupled with the fact that he was unable to provide for the family needs as a father (Plummer et al. Sessions: Case Histories, 2014). The genogram allows the social worker to get access to the actual environment where Juan and Elena grew up. From the genogram, it is clear that both Juan and Elena copied and carried over the methods and ways used by their parents to correct and discipline them and have applied them in disciplining their children. The two implemented the same disciplining techniques on their children despite the fact that they did not approve them from their parents (Plummer et al. Sessions: Case Histories, 2014). Unfortunately, despite this being acceptable at time they were growing up and in the culture they grew in, it has no place in the current world and is not socially acceptable in the United States.
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A genogram is a scientific tool which enables and aids social workers in deciphering through the massive information obtained from the clients. It is, therefore, a useful tool especially in a group setting involving inmates as it allows a proper focus to the inmates’ family system and environment (Joan et al., 2013) . A sense of awakening is created as the family trees are built by the inmates while discussing the family members’ behaviors and the household environment. Through self-actualization, this allows the realization of the very reasons as to why the current paths were chosen. After this, the discussions aimed at changing the undesirable cycle are held.
In the therapeutic field, the genogram is important as it allows the patients to relax by providing them with an opportunity to speak about their family and their childhood as they talk about how they grew up which invokes childhood memories ( Hull & Kirst-Ashman, 2015). It provides the social worker with the much-needed information as it enables them to relate the connection existing between the parental guidance and the client has learned and taken through in their own family environment.
In summary, social work as a practice allows the health worker to learn various aspects of therapy. At times a selected approach might not work appropriately unless certain tools such as the genogram are adapted which introduce sessions that will enable the social worker to open windows that will provide access to the client’s family environment as well as their upbringing. This provides crucial clues that are of great importance in the assessment. Through the obtained information, the social worker is able to come up with a suitable and successful treatment plan. The genogram is useful in addressing medical health and family system environment. It can also be utilized in tracing the root-cause of the challenge at hand.
References
Hull, J. G., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2015). Understanding Generalist Practice; seventh edition. Cengage Learning.
Joan A. Muir, Johnathan H. Duff, Seth J. Schwartz & C. Hendricks Brown (2013): Brief Strategic Family Therapy: Implementing evidence-based models in community settings, Psychotherapy Research, DOI:10.1080/10503307.2013.856044 MD: Laureate Universities Publishing [Vital source e-reader].
Nichols, M. (2014). The essentials of family therapy (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (2014). Sessions: Case Histories. Baltimore,
