What are Genosociograms and How Can We Generate, Analyze, and Interpret them? Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on the Network of Relationships

This article deals with the possible blending of genograms and sociograms into a unified and variable tool for the collection, visualization, and analysis of relationship contexts. Shared perspectives on personal relationships by genograms and sociograms are highlighted and integrative concepts from the literature are presented. My proposal is, then, to conceptualize both family and non-family relations as genosociograms and to analyze them as egocentric (personal) networks of relationships. This is illustrated by the example of the (non-clinical) case of the genosociogram of a student. The network analysis of her genosociogram reveals several interesting insights into the differential centrality of people in her network, into differences of the relationship structure across different network sectors, and into the particular relationship constellations of her network members. The consequences and chances of genosociograms for clinical casework and systemic theorizing are discussed in the concluding section of the article.