Read a genogram key
A genogram key states what each symbol and line on the chart means. In Genogram Builder, the key can also show which people and lines each entry describes.
A genogram records a family in a standard notation, and the key is the part of the figure that interprets that notation for the reader. The key in Genogram Builder follows the notation of McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry (2020), and the line under its heading names this source. Because the key lists only the symbols and lines that the chart contains, a short key indicates a chart that uses few conventions.
The entries are grouped under seven headings, and a heading appears only when the chart contains something to list under it. People contains the symbols for individuals, Couples & children the couple and child lines, and Emotional relationships the lines that describe how people relate to one another. Conditions lists health conditions, Background the marks written under names, Groups households and institutions, and Your lines any lines that you have defined yourself.
Procedure
- 1
Read the title block at the top of the key, which gives the name of the family, the date and the number of people.
- 2
Read the entries under each heading in turn, from People to Your lines.
- 3
Hover over an entry to highlight the people and lines that it describes. The number at the right of the entry shows how many there are.
- 4
Click an entry to keep it highlighted while you examine the chart, and click it again or press Esc to release it.
- 5
Click a person on the canvas to highlight every entry in the key that applies to that person.
- 6
If the meaning of an entry is unclear, click Explain to show a definition beside every entry.
When Clinical mode is on, the title block reads “Family genogram” and states that names have been replaced by numbers.
Conventions of the chart
The shape of each symbol records the sex of the person. A square represents a male, a circle a female, an arched shape a non-binary person and a diamond a person whose sex is unknown or not recorded.
The text around each symbol follows a fixed arrangement. By default, the age is written inside the symbol, the years of birth and death above it, and the name below it. The index person, for whom the genogram is drawn, has a double outline and a yellow fill.
The colour of a line indicates what it records. Black lines show the structure of the family, that is, its couples and their children, while blue and red lines show emotional relationships.
The layout of the chart also carries meaning. Each row is one generation, with the oldest at the top, and by convention siblings are placed from the oldest at the left to the youngest at the right.
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