I never really knew much about my family's interactions, but when I was doing research for the genogram project, I noticed a few patterns starting to emerge. Some of the dominant behavior patterns found in my family include religious observance, racism, obtaining at least a high school diploma, owning a business, divorce, and cohabitation. On my mother's side, religion was a big part of their family. Grandpa was a pastor and came from the mountains of Virginia in 1936, so Christianity was passed down from generation to generation and was strict in his home partly because he had been an alcoholic and because of the stigma of atheists at that time . On my father's side, religion wasn't as prevalent, but they got up and went to church every Sunday because it was the norm and a way to socialize with others. Now religion plays a bigger role in my immediate family, but not as much in my cousins' lives. Along with religion in the home, racism was equally prevalent in both sides of the family. It was transmitted by parents and peers. This has been taught to the younger generation, but as they socialize with different races in school and in life in general, the trend is fading (Nasser). The majority of both families received their diplomas, even their GED. Even Marie (my grandmother on my father's side) was married and pregnant before graduating from high school in 1957. The general consensus on why it was important to complete high school was that "you must finish what you started.” My family didn't drop out of school to work on a farm, but they didn't go to college either. In fact, some thought higher education was a bad thing. Owning a business is a trend that applies to both sides of my family. William and David Self - ...... middle of paper ......ings, still business owners. Let's hope, however, that racism is a trend that will disappear. Analyzing my family through the eyes of a sociologist showed me that although my family has come a long way throughout history, it hasn't really changed much. - Patterns of family structure through the modern era, the twentieth century. Np, and Web. April 15, 2014. Hayes, Erin. “More Americans are waiting longer to get married.” ABC News. ABC News Network, June 29, 2014. Web. April 10, 2014. Kunz, Jenifer. "Divorce." Think about marriages and families. Boston: Pearson, 2011. 238-30. Print.Staff, NPR. “More and more young people are moving away from religion, but why? »NPR. NPR, January 15, 2013. Web. April 16, 2014. Nasser, Haya El and Paul Overberg. "Census follows 20 years of sweeping changes - USATODAY.com." USATODAY.COM. USATODAY, August 10, 2011. Web. April 15. 2014.