WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
Wiggins Family Genogram
Erica Tripp-Wiggins
Liberty University
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WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
Wiggins Family Genogram
My family is who I am and I define myself by my family. Our family nickname
is “The Firm” and the CEO is my mother Faye P. Trip. She is the family organizer and
gatherer no matter the event. The majority of the information was gathered from an
extended interview with her as since she is the family CEO she has almost all of the
family history right now. In completing the assignment it was reiterated that my
family is made up of multiple generations of fascinating, interesting, talented, caring
and dynamic individuals. My family maternal name is Lievers and from that alone
was born over 15 children one of them being my grandmother Blanche.
Though my mother and father were married for many years I do not know a
lot about that side of my family. My mother and father were separated early in my
life, but remained married for over twenty years. During those years of separation I
discovered that my father had become a drug addict and alcoholic. This was not
something that my mother ever spoke of when his name came up as she always
spoke of him in cordial terms. Though he suffered from these diseases he was able to
still assist in providing for his children. He seldom speaks of his childhood, his
siblings or his parents so this is not information that I know.
My maternal side is very strong and that is the family I know. It was
fascinating to complete the assignment as well as interesting to get real facts and not
just narratives and assumptions. My family has been through many trials and
tribulations, but through it all we have survived and persevered. Our strength and
resilience is what makes others want to be included. We have an exceptionally large
extended family that if included in the genogram would be very overwhelming to
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WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
include. We have always taken in individuals or even entire families in need. We
were taught to share and that though you may not have much everyone will have
something.
Overall, I have a healthy family as illness have not significantly impacted us.
However, alcoholism and family violence has had in my opinion had a significant
impact over the generations. I suspect that being from the inner city had impacts on
the family and its dynamics. The political and cultural climate of the inner city is
much different from other parts of the country and its impact is great. The closeness
of my family is different from other families from Baltimore. My grandmother talks
of her and siblings being raised in a segregated part of the city and the effects it had
on the family. Such dynamics resulted in financial issues at times, but also supported
a culture of family violence as well as drug and alcohol abuse. Such abuse is noted in
most of the relationships on the genogram. Also noted was the verbal abuse as
well.
My family is composed of working class individuals that have gradually
evolved into professionals. Many of those in my family now are college educated
and considered middle class though there are some that are considered upper class.
Subsequent generations have benefited from the hard work of previous generations.
Though the genogram is only three generations it is large and visually gives a lot of
information but does not really address spirituality. Christianity has a very
significant and important role in my family. We are all God fearing, love and accept
Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. My maternal grandfather Charles Blackwell had
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WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
seven sons from a prior marriage and one of those sons is a Catholic Priest who in
turn grew to be our family priest.
Understanding who I am within the context of a multigenerational family is
that I am definitely defined by the family. My maternal side is highly influential and
with whom I am extremely close to as opposed to my paternal side. My sister and I
were raised to be better and do better than my mother. It was expected that we
would get our education and get good jobs so as to not have to struggle as she did
while raising us. There is a family history of abuse, but that does not define who my
family is at all. They are strong, resilient and persevere through the toughest of
situations. I always saw my mother go to work everyday and this gave me a very
strong work ethic which I have in turn passed on to my son. Strong character is an
asset that I have from my family.
The history, culture and characteristics of my family have greatly impacted
my understanding of self. Other aspects of my family are the value of achievement
and high expectations, which have always been an assumption and failure was not
an option. I do not know what my father’s religious views/values are but my mother
is a practicing Catholic and as such so are my child and I. The members of my family
are all Christians and have Christian values. The value of service, helping others,
responsibility, resiliency is apart of my cultural and familial upbringing, which have
greatly influenced who I am and how I will in turn influence future generations of
my family.
Interpretive Analysis
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WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
Family lifecycle-related issues past and present have influenced my family
and will continue to influence my family for successive generations. Each stage of
the family lifecycle has created some type of issue as the adjustment and shifting
causes a rippling effect. In developing an adult-to-adult relationship with my son
the issue that presents itself are me having to allow him to become an adult. This
has not been easy as I have still tried to parent as if he were an adolescent.
Renegotiating our roles has not been easy as he is my only son and I so much want to
protect him from the evils of the world. He is a young black male and I want him to
become all that God has destined him to be. The shifting generational roles are also
noted in the genogram as my aunt and her husband are now taking care of my aging
grandmother. This has been a difficult transition as she was the caretaker of so
many and now must rely on others.
Multiple intergenerational dynamics, patterns, and themes have influenced
myself as well as my family. As noted in the genogram my family has and does
continue to have its share of difficulties we have and will continue to have what is
categorized as relational resilience. Walsh (1996), as cited in Goldenberg &
Goldenberg, 2013) stated that families may emerge hardier from crisis or persistent
stresses or the demands for life cycles transitional changes. My family has been able
to have such resilience through several infant deaths in a short time period. Having
such resilience when confronted with such severe stresses have allowed us to be
more flexible when seeking solutions to life problems (Goldenberg & Goldenberg,
2013).
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WIGGINS FAMILY GENOGRAM
Relationship and functioning patters are evident across the family and over
generations. Emotional relationships such as abuse, discord and conflict are
apparent in current and previous generations. As a family we engage in multiple
recurring patterns that do in a sense help the family to have a type of homeostasis.
Such interactive patterns help us to have links to prior generations and to encourage
current and future generations to “do better” and not participate in the emotional
issues that have developed as patterns.
There are several areas that I will need to continue to work on in order to be
a better parent, counselor and godly person. I will need to work on my emotional
relationship with a brother that was adopted at birth and “found” our family. My
feelings are indifferent towards him but I know, as I trust in God he will continue to
guide my feelings and heal my heart. I will also need to work on my relationship
with my mother as she too is on an emotional and psychological rollercoaster. As I
continue on my journey in Christ with his help he will assist me in working on my
family relationships so that we can continue to be a strong family. I know that he
placed Terry once again in our family for a reason and as such it is not my place to
reason why.
In completing this assignment and gathering information, family dynamics
were exposed and examined. It was reaffirmed that my family is resilient, strong,
loving, flexible, and supportive and everything I need it to be when I need it to be.
We have had our share of difficulties, history of abuse, substance abuse but continue
to be purposeful in who we are in loving each other and being a family.
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