Genogram example · Cultural
Spanish Family Genogram: Three Generations in Social Services
Quick answer
At a glance
| This example | |
|---|---|
| Generations | 3 |
| Family members | 11 |
| Index person | Marta Fernández García |
| Emotional relationships | Hostile, Conflict, Close and Distant |
| Conditions marked | Medical shading |
| Category | Cultural |
| Tags | Cultural, Clinical, Educational |
About this genogram
A three-generation genogram of a Spanish family seen by municipal social services (servicios sociales), drawn with Spanish names, two surnames and Spanish labels. A teenage daughter has stopped attending school after her parents’ separation; the chart shows the hostile separation, the father’s alcohol use, the grandparents on both sides, the mother’s household and the social services involvement. The family is fictional. A full Spanish version is at /es/ejemplo-genograma-familiar.
Family analysis
Overview
This three-generation genogram maps 11 family members of a fictional family in Seville. The index person is Marta Fernández García (15), who was referred by her secondary school for absenteeism in 2025. She lives with her mother, Lucía García Ruiz (45), a nursing assistant, and her brothers Pablo (21) and Daniel (11), who has ADHD. All labels in the chart are in Spanish, as a Spanish social services team would write them.
The parents and the separation
Javier Fernández Navarro and Lucía married in 2004 and separated in 2022; the single slash on their line marks the separation and a red zigzag marks a hostile relationship. Javier is unemployed and his alcohol use is shaded on his symbol. Since the separation he has lived with his widowed mother, Rosario, which a note records, and he is distant from his eldest son Pablo. Lucía has depression and is in conflict with Marta.
Grandparents and wider family
Javier’s father, Antonio, a bricklayer with hypertension and alcohol use, died of a heart attack in 2019, so drinking appears in two generations of the paternal line. Rosario has type 2 diabetes. On the maternal side Manuel and Carmen García have been married since 1977; Carmen has depression, like her daughter. Lucía’s younger sister Elena is close to Marta and is the adult Marta talks to.
Social services involvement
The household boundary marks the maternal home (domicilio materno) since 2022. A note records the earlier contact with social services: emergency financial help in 2023 and follow-up by a family educator since 2026. The timeline places Marta’s absences after the separation and her grandfather’s death.
Using it in practice
In practice the genogram supports the family intervention plan: it identifies Elena as a support for Marta, shows the alcohol pattern on the father’s side and keeps both parents in view. A Spanish walkthrough of this example is available at /es/ejemplo-genograma-familiar. Names and details are fictional.
How do you read the Spanish Family Genogram: Three Generations in Social Services?
- 1
Find each person and generation
Squares are males and circles are females, and each row is one generation, oldest at the top. It spans 3 generations. - 2
Follow the family lines
Horizontal lines join partners and vertical lines drop to their children, born left to right in birth order. This genogram uses Marriage, Separation, Widowed and Parent-child line lines. - 3
Read the emotional lines
Lines drawn between two people show how they relate: Hostile, Conflict, Close and Distant. Notice who has several lines converging on them, and which patterns repeat from one generation to the next. - 4
Read the shading
Shaded symbols mark health conditions: Medical shading. Trace each line of descent to see where a condition recurs and where it stops.
Genogram symbols used in this example
| Symbol | Type | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Male (Square) | Person Symbols | A square represents a male family member. |
| Female (Circle) | Person Symbols | A circle represents a female family member. |
| Index person (highlighted outline) | Person Symbols | The person at the centre of the assessment is drawn with a highlighted outline. |
| Deceased (X) | Person Symbols | An X through the symbol marks a person who has died; birth and death years are written above it. |
| Age inside the symbol | Person Symbols | The current age (or age at death) is written inside each symbol, with years above it. |
| Marriage | Couples | A solid line between partners; the marriage year is written on the line (m 90 = married 1990). |
| Separation | Couples | One slash across the couple line marks a separation, with the year (s 22). |
| Widowed | Couples | A small x on the couple line marks the end of a marriage through death (wid 15). |
| Parent-child line | Couples | A vertical line from the couple line to each child; siblings run oldest to youngest from left to right. |
| Household boundary | Households and Notes | A dashed outline around the people who live together, labelled with the household name and the year it began. |
| Text note | Households and Notes | A yellow note on the chart records information that has no symbol, such as previous involvement, contact arrangements or a relative’s offer of support. |
| Hostile | Emotional Relationships | A red zigzag marks a hostile relationship. |
| Conflict | Emotional Relationships | Dashed red double lines mark open conflict. |
| Close | Emotional Relationships | Two parallel blue lines mark an emotionally close relationship. |
| Distant | Emotional Relationships | A red dashed line marks emotional distance between two people. |
| Medical shading | Medical | The left half of a symbol is shaded for a physical or mental illness and the bottom half for alcohol or drug use; each condition has its own colour, listed in the key. Hatching means suspected, a partial fill means in recovery. |
Build a genogram like this one
Example prompt
- 1
Start from the dashboard
Sign in to GenogramAI and choose Create with AI (paid plans), or open a blank genogram and use Ask AI (any plan). To start from this exact chart instead, use Open as template. - 2
Describe your family
Paste a description like the one above, with your own names, dates, relationships and health history. - 3
Check and adjust
Edit people and lines by hand, or ask the AI for one change at a time. - 4
Export
Download a PNG on the free plan. PDF and SVG export are on paid plans.
The free plan includes 2 genograms and 5 AI credits a month. See the AI genogram creator for what else it can do.
Related resources
- Read this example in Spanish: ejemplo de genograma familiar de 3 generaciones.
- Spanish guide: genograma familiar.
- More on the three-generation genogram.
- See the hostile relationship line in the symbols guide.
Frequently asked questions
How are Spanish names with two surnames shown on a genogram?
Write the full name with both surnames, father’s first and mother’s second: Marta Fernández García is the daughter of Javier Fernández Navarro and Lucía García Ruiz. Women keep their own surnames after marriage in Spain, so there is no maiden name to add.
Is there a Spanish version of this example?
Yes. The page at /es/ejemplo-genograma-familiar explains the same genogram in Spanish, person by person, for students and professionals working in Spanish.
What do Spanish municipal social services use genograms for?
Social workers and family educators in servicios sociales comunitarios use the genogram in the first interviews to understand who lives in the home, the extended family and earlier support, and to plan a family intervention. Here it was drawn after the school reported Marta’s absences.
Can the app show the key in Spanish?
Yes. GenogramAI is available in Spanish, and the key, menus and labels follow the language you choose; the names and notes you type stay as written.
Can I build a genogram like the Spanish Family Genogram: Three Generations in Social Services example?
Yes. Open GenogramAI, choose Create with AI on the dashboard (paid plans) or open a blank genogram and use Ask AI in the editor (any plan), and describe the family in plain words: who is in it, how they are related, key dates and the relationships or health conditions you want to show. The AI draws the symbols and lines, and you can then edit by hand or ask for one change at a time. A family of 11 people like this one takes a short paragraph to describe. The free plan includes 2 genograms and 5 AI credits a month, with PNG export.
About this example
