Conjoint Family Drawing: a technique for family clinical assessment

Born in 1970 by Bing, Conjoint Family Drawing is very useful in research as well as in clinical settings because it allows to assess the family as a whole. Unfortunately, a lack of studies and researches identifying a clear grid or unambiguous criteria for its interpretation is to be acknowledged. How can data from the Conjoint Family Drawing be used in a standardized and structured fashion? Which of the elements and aspects in the drawings need to be considered to assess families? This paper aims to identify a group of categorical variables that will serve for an objective interpretation of drawings as well as to verify the instrument’s discriminant capacity. In particular, the criteria and variables found in literature on the use of drawings and other family assessment instruments were explored and their suitability for the explanation of Conjoint Family Drawings (CFD) was tested out. A coding grid of 18 categorical variables (10 concern various elements in the drawing and the remaining 8 concern the drawing making process) was developed and applied on a sample of 117 CFDs from clinical and non-clinical families. The variables consider emotional, interactive and relational aspects. A two–step cluster analysis was carried out to define discriminant variables and 6 different family typologies were identified.