New Beginnings: Single-Parent Families, Remarriages, and Blended Families

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New Beginnings Single-ParentFamilies,
Remarriages, and Blended Families

• Chapter 14

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Chapter Outline

• Single-Parent Families
• Binuclear Families
• Remarriages
• Blended Families
• Stepparenting

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Single-Parent Families

• Created by divorce, births to unmarried mothers,
  or the death of a spouse
• Usually female headed
• Many single-parent homes actually contain two
  cohabiting adults, one of which is the parent
• These can include homes headed by lesbians and
  gay men.
• These families are often economically
  disadvantaged

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Single-Parent Families

• Births to Unwed Mothers
• Single-parent families created by births to unwed
  mothers are more common than those created by
  divorce
• These families receive little social support.
• Headed by Mothers (sometimes fathers)
• Over 85 of single-parent families are headed by
  women.
• Given the gender discrimination in wages and
  jobs, single mothers are much more likely to be
  in poverty than are single fathers.

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Single-Parent Families

• Ethnicity
• African American single-parent families are more
  likely to be in poverty than are Hispanic or
  Caucasian families.
• Poverty
• Female-headed single-parent families are
  disproportionately represented among those in
  poverty.
• Diversity of Living Arrangements
• Single-parent families need greater flexibility
  with child care and housing arrangements.

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Single-Parent Families

• Diversity of Living Arrangements
• Single-parent families can take many forms
  including the parents outside romantic partner
  or live-in partner.
• Social Father a male relative, family
  associate, or mothers partner who demonstrates
  father-like behavior
• Private Safety Nets support from social
  networks that they can fall back on in times of
  financial need

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Single-Parent Families

• Transitional Form
• Single-parent families tend to be a transitional
  family form that can precede marriage or occur
  after divorce.
• Intentional Single-Parent Families
• Some women who have not found a suitable partner
  will intentionally become single-parents.

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Lesbian and Gay Single Parents

• Lesbians and gay men may have become parents in a
  previous heterosexual relationship or using
  donors, artificial reproductive technologies or
  by adopting.
• The lack of marriage rights in the majority of
  states leaves gay men and lesbians as legal
  single parents even though there is likely to be
  a partner present.
• Children in these relationships only have one
  legal adoptive or biological parent
  second-parent adoptions are rare.

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Children in Single-Parent Families

• Research has found some negative outcomes for
  children in single-parent families such as
  behavioral problems, academic performance, and
  mental and physical health.
• Children may need to cope with their parents
  loneliness, depression, and increased stress.
• Possible positive outcomes include a child
  learning more responsibility, spending a large
  amount of time with their custodial parent, and
  feeling less pressure to conform to normal gender
  roles.

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Successful Single Parents

• Accept responsibilities and challenges for
  single-parenthood.
• Parenting as first priority.
• Consistent, non-punitive parenting
• Emphasis on open communication
• Fostering individuality supported by the family
• Recognition of the need for self-nurturance
• Dedication to rituals and traditions

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Single-Parent Family Strengths

• Ability to take on expressive and instrumental
  traits.
• Growing as a person by accepting the changes in
  his/her life.
• Good communication skills can develop trust and a
  sense of honesty.
• Coordinating all of the familys activities is a
  normal daily occurence.
• Persons may develop the ability to be financially
  self-sufficient.

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Binuclear Families

• The binuclear family consists of two nuclear
  familiesthe maternal nuclear family headed by
  the mother (the ex-wife) and the paternal one
  headed by the father (the ex-husband).
• These families include both single-parent
  families and stepfamilies.
• Former Spouses as Co-Parents
• Ex-spouses must put aside any anger and
  resentment felt during the divorce and focus
  their energy on working together to raise their
  children.

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Binuclear Families

• The Remarried Family
• A remarried couple must navigate the complexities
  of married life while also considering the
  ex-spouse.
• Parent-Child Subsystem
• A former single parent must renegotiate their
  roles as they incorporate a new adult into
  parenting their children.
• Sibling, Half-Sibling, and Step-Sibling Subsystem
• Children must accept one another as family and
  share the attention of their parent.

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Recoupling

• Courtship differs between first marriages and
  remarriages.
• Courtship may trigger old wounds, fears, or
  regrets but the partners may have more realistic
  expectations for this relationship.
• Many divorced persons choose to cohabit with
  their partner before remarriage or in place of
  it.
• Single parents, however eager they are to find a
  new partner, their children usually remain the
  central figure in their lives.

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Remarriage

• Remarriage
• A marriage in which one or both partners have
  previously been married.
• Men tend to remarry at higher rates than women.

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Remarriage

• Children lower the probability of marriage for
  both men and women but even more so for women.
• Initiators are more likely to remarry than
  non-initiators.
• Womens odds of remarrying decrease as they age
  due to the cultural association of youthfulness
  with attractiveness and their likelihood of being
  mothers.
• Women and men who are employed and socialize with
  coworkers are more likely to remarry than those
  who are not.

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Characteristics of Remarriage

• Marital Satisfaction
• People seem to be as satisfied in second
  marriages as they do in first yet divorce is more
  likely in second marriages.
• Remarriages are incomplete institutions
  (Cherlin, 1981)
• They lack societal social norms and behavioral
  prescriptions.
• Remarriages are subjected to different stresses
  than are first marriages.
• These include children from previous
  relationships.

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Blended Families

• Commonly referred to as stepfamilies, these
  families consist of two adults and their children
  attempting to blend into one fully functioning
  family.

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Blended Families

• Structural Differences
• Almost all members have lost an important
  relationship
• One biological parent typically lives outside the
  family.
• The relationship with the parent and his/her
  children pre-dates the relationship between the
  new spouses.
• Stepparent roles are ill-defined and lack models.
• Many children are also part of a non-custodial
  parents household.
• Children also have at least one extra set of
  grandparents.

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Blended Families

• Developmental Stages
• Early Stages
• Fantasy Stage new stepparents expect to
  instantly love and be loved by their stepchildren
• Immersion Stage - Reality sets in
• Awareness Stage Each family member must
  understand that their family has changed.
• Middle Stages
• Mobilization Family members recognize
  differences and openly resolve conflict.
• Action The family takes steps in recognizing
  themselves as a family.

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Blended Families

• Later Stages
• Contact The relationships between family
  members become genuine.
• Resolution - The family becomes solid and is no
  longer characterized by earlier troubles.

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Stepparenting

• Women
• Research indicates that stepfamily life is more
  difficult for women than for men due to the
  cultural expectations for women as parents and
  caregivers.
• Due to the likelihood of contact with the
  childrens biological mother, child rearing
  becomes very difficult for the stepmother.
• Men
• Fathers are not as likely to have custody of
  their children. This can result in guilt that
  they are not parenting their own children.
• Stepfathers tend to have more limited and less
  positive relationship with their stepchildren.
• Parental claiming embracing stepchildren as if
  they were biological children

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Stepparenting

• Children
• Children in stepfamilies have a higher risk of
  having behavioral, psychological, and academic
  problems.
• Conflict
• Favoritism, or preferring one child over others
• Divided loyalties can force children to take
  sides against one that they love
• Discipline can be difficult to manage among
  biological and non-biological parents.
• Money, goods, and services can be divided
  unequally among family members.

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Strengths of Stepfamilies

• Family Functions
• Stepfamilies can successfully fill traditional
  family functions (i.e. love, support,
  socialization, etc.)
• Benefits for Children
• Additional role models and exposure to new ideas
• Gain the extra support of a stepparent and step-
  or half-siblings
• Gain an extended kin network
• Improved economic situation
• Happily married parents