Adolescents as research subjects: use of genograms as support for life history/Adolescentes como sujeitos de pesquisa: a utilizacao do genograma como apoio para a historia de vida/ Adolescentes como sujetos de investigacion: el uso genograma como soporte para la historia de vida

Genograms consist of graphical representation of consanguineous families, kinship and/or affective relationships, and provide information on various dimensions of family dynamics. The empirical basis of this paper was reflection about the background of preparation, use and preliminary analysis of the process of using genograms as a research development technique. Thus, the design of this study favored the perspective of thematic histories of the lives of 14 adolescents who were living with HIV/AIDS due to vertical transmission. Genograms were considered to be an important resource for initially approaching the adolescents, through facilitating a closer and more relaxed relationship between the researcher and the subject. They were also considered to be suitable for data gathering, as investigative instruments. Moreover, they were seen to be an important tool for enabling the researcher to understand the life histories reported by the adolescents.