Scenario: “Mapping Kin Beyond Blood” — A Genogram Challenge for Social Work Students (Microsoft Copilot, 27/2/26)

Background

You are a social work student on placement at a community health service in regional Victoria. You are asked to conduct an intake assessment with Jaylen, a 23-year-old client who has been referred for support around housing instability, cultural identity, and mental health.

As part of your assessment, you attempt to create a standard genogram—but quickly discover that Jaylen’s understanding of family, kinship, and connectedness does not fit neatly into the conventional symbols or biological categories the genogram usually requires.

🧩 Client Profile

Client:

Jaylen (23, they/them)
Identifies as:

  • Aboriginal (Palawa) and Samoan
  • Non-binary
  • Living with ADHD and generalised anxiety
  • Works casually but currently couch surfing

Jaylen expresses patience but clear discomfort with the standard genogram form.

🧠 Kinship Network Details

1. Kinship beyond biology — Aboriginal kinship

Jaylen’s Aboriginal family connections include:

  • Two Aunties (not biologically related) who are considered primary caregivers.
  • A “brother-cousin” (same age cousin raised as a sibling).
  • A Skin group, which shapes kin roles and obligations.
  • A Community Elder, who Jaylen calls “Nan,” though they share no legal or biological ties.

These relationships carry greater emotional significance than some biological relatives.

2. Culturally structured family — Samoan side

On the Samoan side, Jaylen describes:

  • A matai (chief) who acts as a decision-maker for extended family matters.
  • Church-based kin, including a youth pastor Jaylen refers to as “uncle.”
  • A large extended household structure where caregiving responsibilities are shared.

3. Chosen family & queer community

Jaylen has:

  • A queer community they consider their safest and closest support system.
  • A “drag mother” who provides emotional mentoring.
  • A former partner who remains a key support, considered “family.”

4. Complicated biological ties

Biologically:

  • Jaylen’s biological mother is intermittently in their life.
  • Their biological father was deported to Samoa when Jaylen was young.
  • They have half-siblings they’ve never met, but Jaylen feels these connections are “paper relationships” with limited meaning.

5. Non-human relationships and belonging

Jaylen asks whether their support dog (registered for emotional support, but not a service animal) can be included, saying:

“She’s honestly the most stable relationship I’ve got.”

🧭 The Challenge for Students

Students must create a representation of Jaylen’s kinship system that:

  1. Respects both Aboriginal and Samoan cultural frameworks.
  2. Accounts for chosen family, queer family structures, and non-biological kin.
  3. Acknowledges that emotional significance does not align with biological lineage.
  4. Finds ways to visualise relationships traditional genograms don’t capture, such as:
    • Elders with cultural authority
    • Skin group systems
    • Drag families
    • Community-based kin
  5. Avoids imposing Western assumptions about what “family” means.

The scenario encourages students to consider whether:

  • A genogram should be supplemented with an ecomap, kinship grid, or a narrative-based diagram.
  • Symbols need to be modified—or if new visual symbols are needed.
  • Genograms, in their traditional form, may reinforce colonial or exclusionary concepts of family.

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