For the past year and a half I have worked at a single women's shelter that houses 16 Hennepin County women and their children. By working at a women's shelter I have gotten the opportunity to see a lot of psychological terms we have learned thus far applied in real life. One that I constantly see applied is the "Nature vs. Nurture" debate. On any given day at work I often see the personalities of the mothers reflected onto their children. 
One resident that sticks out to me the most is a resident that had a traumatic life and she suffered from depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. In addition to her mental health issues, she was a victim of sexual assault. Her mother had pretty much the same life story; she suffered from depression and was a victim of sexual abuse as well. My resident grew up in an environment where no one talked about the things they were facing and they often internalized the difficulties they faced. Consequently this led her to confide and find comfort within men, those men used and abused her causing much of the pain she suffered from. This pattern was developed from her mother, because as a child the only time she would see her mom happy and sane was when she was with a man and many of those men used and abused her mother as well. 
This resident left me often questioning is it our nature or nurture that makes us subjected to living a lifestyle similar to those around us? I also wondered how does ones environment (nurture) play a role in the development of mental illness? For instance if my resident grew up in a different environment would her outcome in life be different? Would she still suffer from depression?
Does the Apple fall far from the tree?
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Wow what a subject! That is a excellent place to examine the nature-nurture debate in its primary form and see the effects. It left me with a question: Did the women who found the courage to leave and go to a women's shelter move on to a better environment and therefore find a more positive environment in which to raise their children, consequently breaking the cycle? But in all a prime place to examine the nature-nurture debate.
This is really interesting, its very cool how you get to see some of these experiences and deal with hand on at your work place. I agree with you that is very difficult to tell what is caused by nurture or caused by nature. Its a very touchy topic and is hard to test, because its not like you can go back in time and change the outcomes of someones life. I feel that this is a debate that will rarely come to a conclusion. That is because there are many other factors that go into how you become- its not just one thing.
I think this is a very different opportunity that you have, to see those who have gone through such traumatic experiences and still "live" through them. Many women who sexually abused cannot live with that fact and they commit suicide. Some, but very little, actually find someone to confide in. And I think that if a mother finds someone (other than a man who will abuse her) to confide in, then her child will live a healthy (healthier) lifestyle than what she lived. I would hope that this women you know will find someone to confide in that can also help her instead of hurt her.
You have a very academic curiosity aroused by your own experience. I've also posted the nature-nurture debate on this blog. The deeper I research this topic, the more confused I get. I know the desperate feeling that no-right-or-wrong-answer question gives. I guess you attribute the cause of the woman's attitude to nurture. I think the similar way as well, but we cannot exclude the possibility that her passive attitude is originated from her gene, not from the environment, or mixture of them. It's truly a tiring question.
I think you applied nature-nurture debate to the example very well. The written experience seems similar to the Bogle family that we read before. I could find that you agree with nuture factor. Because you mentioned that the daughter had seen her mom's behavior and it influenced the daughter's behavior and her life. Actually I agree with your opinion. There's not enough evidence that depressive personality can be inherited genetically. But it is possible that the daughter learned from her mom's behavior and thought.
As we learned that both factors can influence one's life, through your entry, I am wondering that if depressive personality can be inherited such as agressive factor.
I think that it's awesome that you volunteer your time at this women's shelter-- very admirable! :) I like how you tied in your personal examples, it helped pull me in as a reader. I was a peer helper to a girl who grew up in an extremely sad home life and had many different problems as a result of this, I believe that nurture plays a bigger part than nature.
I think that her mother's tendency to keep her problems to herself are very "nature"-like. That is what she does, and it led to a environment where your resident was unable to discuss things with her mother. That is where the "nurture" comes in.
I feel the biggest problem for "nature-v-nurture" is the fact that many people are unaware of the consequences of their "nature." Perhaps if your resident's mother realized her internalizing and tried to talk to your resident, it would have been different. That's what I believe, anyway.