Compare methods

	Genogram Analysis	Ecomap Analysis	Task Analysis (Social Work)
Field	Social Work	Social Work	Social Work
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	2008	1978	1992
Originator	Monica McGoldrick & Randy Gerson (standardized notation); Murray Bowen (theoretical roots)	Ann Hartman	William J. Reid & Laura Epstein (task-centered practice)
Type	Graphical, qualitative family-assessment tool	Graphical, qualitative person-in-environment assessment tool	Qualitative procedure for decomposing a goal into sequenced, accomplishable tasks
Seminal source	McGoldrick, M., Gerson, R., & Petry, S. (2008). Genograms: Assessment and Intervention (3rd ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN: 9780393705096	Hartman, A. (1978). Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Social Casework, 59(8), 465–476.	Reid, W. J. (1992). Task Strategies: An Empirical Approach to Clinical Social Work. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 9780231076876
Aliases	Genogram, Family Genogram, Family Diagram, McGoldrick Genogram	Ecomap, Eco-Map, Ecological Map, Hartman Ecomap	Task-Centered Task Analysis, Task Implementation Sequence Analysis, Reid Task Analysis, Task Breakdown Analysis (Social Work)
Related	3	3	3
Summary	A genogram is a graphical map of a family across at least three generations that uses standardized symbols to record its structure, key biographical and medical events, and the quality of relationships among members. Genogram analysis is the practice of constructing such a map with a client and then interpreting it to reveal intergenerational patterns — of illness, relationships, roles, conflict, and resilience — that shape the presenting situation. Standardized by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson and grounded in Bowen family-systems theory, it is a staple qualitative assessment tool in social work and family therapy.	An ecomap is a graphical map of a household or individual set within their social environment, showing the connections between the focal system and the external systems around it — extended family, work, school, health care, friends, agencies, religion, and recreation — and coding each connection as strong, tenuous, or stressful, with arrows for the flow of energy and resources. Ecomap analysis is the practice of drawing and interpreting this map to assess the person-in-environment, the central organizing concept of social work. It was introduced by Ann Hartman in 1978.	In task-centered social work, task analysis is the qualitative procedure of breaking a client's agreed-upon goal into a sequence of concrete, accomplishable tasks, then examining what helps and hinders the completion of each. Rooted in William Reid and Laura Epstein's task-centered model, it turns a large or vague problem into a chain of small, reviewable actions for the client and worker, and treats the success or failure of each task as data for refining the plan. It is both a planning device and an analytic lens on the change process.