ABSTRACT
Cultural background and experiences determine attitudes and beliefs about life and what political, social, and economic options and opportunities people are likely to have. This chapter provides an introduction to the incredible diversity of various cultural patterns and influences. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the cultural values and biases that their family systems and their environments impose upon them. Cultural experiences organize attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors both personally and intergenerationally. These attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are particularly evident in prejudices, biases, and bigotry that exist among and between various cultural groups. Culture Genograms are a way of bringing these hidden values, expectations, and assumptions out into the open for review, clarification, and modification. The purpose is to examine the impact of race, immigration, and ethnicity, religious orientation, and class upon individuals. Culture defines one of the most important parameters within which family systems and individual personalities develop. Although they are presented last, Culture Genograms, like the other Focused Genograms presented in this book, are a fundamental and essential part of the MFG.
