Family Paper Sculpture (FPS)

Family members are given a variety of colored circles (to represent people), red and black strips of various lengths (to show similarity and differences between people), and blue yarn loops ("boundary markers") of various sizes. Family members are asked to jointly arrange the materials on a standardized white board in a way that describes their family. The family's FPS is photographed. Various measures can be coded from the picture. For example: marital boundaries, descriptions of mates as similar and/or different, closeness.

Instructions:

A Family Picture

Use these materials to describe your family.

The circles are for people. The red and black strips are to show a relationship between two people: red is to show that people are similar in some way; black is to show that people are different. The blue yarn circles are "boundary markers." They are for showing a person who is somehow separate, or a pair or a group of people who belong together. A boundary around one person may be used to show that he or she keeps to themself a lot, for instance, or a boundary could be used to show that two people have something special going between them—something that others in the family are not a part of.

Choose a circle for each family member. Place them on the board any way you wish. Use the red and black strips and the blue boundary markers any way that feels right to you in order to describe your family. You may chose NOT to use them at all.

You may wish to include on the board relatives or close friends of any or all of you.

The only rule is that you are not to write on the board. Work at your "picture" until it feels right. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

Do it together; we want your combined picture of your family.