Stepfamilies

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Stepfamilies
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Wicked step mom
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Video

• Discipline
• Traditions
• Define reconstituted and blended

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Visher and Visher

• Married in 1959 and formed their own stepfamily.
• They normalized stepfamilies

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Differences between stepfamilies and intact
families

• permeable stepfamily boundaries
• interpersonal bonds that predate the couple
  relationship
• loss and divided loyalties for children
• unreasonable expectations
• guilt feelings
• external and internal pressures on the new couple

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Stepfamily myths

• same as biological families
• adjustment will be attained quickly
• love and caring will develop instantaneously
• withdrawing a child from a biological parent
  enhances the relationship with the stepparent of
  the same sex

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Stepfamily myths

• working hard prevents the development of a
  wicked stepmother
• anything negative that happens is a result of
  being in a stepfamily
• Visher Visher, 1988

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• A stepfamily must achieve a family identity in
  order to create binding ties built from shared
  experiences and mutual respect.

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tasks a stepfamily must complete for successful
integration

• deal with losses and changes
• negotiate different development needs
• new traditions
• solid couple bond
• form new relationships
• parenting coalition

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tasks

• continual shifts in household composition
• risk involvement

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Number of Step Families

• 1/5 of children under 18 are stepchildren.
• (Glick, 1984 Glick Lin, 1986)