The Genogram:

Personal Cultural History Project

Kevin Speer

4/28/19

CSPU 514

 
 After completing my Genogram and my two interviews, I feel that I learned a lot

about myself and my family. Family, culture, and where people grew up can have a big

effect on one's perception of others and it can influence people's self-esteem and how

people look at themselves and others. According to UCSF Office of Diversity and

outreach “​Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people

that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Everyone holds

unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem

from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing”. Unconscious biases can

influence one’s personal perspective and counseling styles. In this paper I will endup

showing you what has shaped my counseling style and why I am the way I am.

Interview #1​ Michael Speer, Father (Portuguese and White Mix)

● What was your perceived ethnicity growing up?

Most people just thought I was white.

● Did your perceived ethnicity affect your privilege?

I grew up in Oakland California, the majority of the people in my neighborhood were

African American. I don’t believe it affected my privilege, I just felt accepted.

● Do you think your race affected anything in regards to school?

No. But later in life he felt like it was harder for him to get a job because a lot of

companies were hiring minorities.

● Did your family have any cultural food that you liked or was made a lot?

My Grandmother made a lot of portuguese sweet bread but nothing else really stood out

to him.
 Interview #2 ​Patricia Speer, Mother ( Italian, and White Mix)

● What was your perceived ethnicity growing up?

Italian but most people just thought I was white.

● Did your perceived ethnicity affect your privilege?

Yes, I went to a private school growing up and the majority of the students there were

white.

● Did your family have any cultural food that you liked or was made a lot?

Yes, they ate a lot of Italian food growing up and her grandmother's favorite dish was

pasta.

Reflection

After these two interviews I realized that how my parents grew up has affected

the way I am as a teacher and counselor. I grew up not realizing what racism was until I

learned it in school. I can thank my parents for teaching me that color or race doesn’t

define a person, their personality and their actions do. My dad grew up in a community

where he was more of the minority even though he was white but he felt accepted by

his friends and nighborhod. My mother grew up going to a school that wasn’t as diverse

as my fathers but her parents instilled good values but she did feel that the middle

school she attended did favore towards white people because it was a private school.

Now you get to me and I have worked with at-risk youth the past 5 years and have

taught mostly minorities. I truly believe that I don’t have any unconscious biases

towards any races I judge students on their actions as a person to be there for them the

best I can.
 A lot of people have bias toward people or groups of people and it can affect

them at work, or what school they want to work for. I am an extremely self confident

person and I don’t let people’s opinions affect me or the way I look at myself. I love

working with at-risk youth in San Joaquin County because even though it has its

challenges when you can make a difference in a students life it makes up for all of the

hard times. At a more traditional high school setting you might not have to deal with

some of the personalities but you also might not feel the same rewards of helping a

struggling student to college, or showing them the proper path to their dream job.
 Work Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://diversity.ucsf.edu/resources/unconscious-bias