An Analysis of the Stepfamily Essay - 2005 Words

Divorce and remarriage have a profound effect on the parents and can have harmful effects on the future relationships of their children. Marriage is a complicated and an arduous process with many trials. However, remarriage and the concept of a stepfamily is akin to walking barefoot on hot coals. The dynamics of a stepfamily is dictated early by the fantasies and the subsequently the realities of the marriage and stepfamily issues. In The Fantasy of the Perfect Mother, Nancy Chodorow and Susan Contratto call this â€Å"primary process† thinking. It means acting on fantasies and emotions rather than analyzation and interpretation. A marriage involves primary process as people fall in love and subsequently the realities of the hardship of†¦show more content†¦This idea is directly connected to the problems people encounter when they enter into the lair of a stepfamily as a member. This issue has been entitled â€Å"primary process† thinking. This idea of primary process thinking does not have to spell gloom and doom for the stepfamily unit. Nancy Chodorow and Susan Contratto provide a solution. â€Å"Secondary process† thinking entails thoughtful analysis and reaction to the surprising realities of a situation, instead of a preconceived, inflexible and emotional response to stepfamily problems. Since times immemorial to the present, America has experienced incredible change in the family arena. Divorce was very rare in Colonial America. It was hard for both men and women. In Puritan New England, you could get a divorce if your spouse couldn’t have children. Most colonies granted what we would call permanent separations but neither party could remarry. Many men and some women divorced their spouse by leaving town or the colony. (Source: Making America: A History of the Unites States Volume a to 1877 by Carol Berkin) If the courts were presented with a divorce case, an assignment of guilty or not guilty was designated to either husband or wife and the only the person deemed not guilty was permitted to remarry as stated by Kay Pasley and Marilyn Ihinger-Tallman in their book, â€Å"Remarriage and stepparenting: current research and theory†. It is clear that society and church hadShow MoreRelatedAdolescent s Relationship With A Biological And Step Parent1401 Word s   |  6 Pagesstep-parent as each member tries to adapt to the new setting. The question being answered and studied in this review of literature is what are the challenges that adolescents face when a parent enters a serious relationship and on becomes part of a stepfamily? An Adolescent’s Relationship with a Biological and Step-Parent: Some adolescents view a biological parent s new relationship as a personal attack and are often weary to participate in the new relationship. This leads an adolescent to feel theRead MoreThe Social And Environmental Levels843 Words   |  4 PagesThe ecological approach is simply a theory stating that the different social and environmental levels with which one interacts, has in turn an overall affect on one’s growth. Through analysis of the NICHS study, which was performed with the basis of 68 biological fathers and 68 step-fathers to determine whether contextual factors associated with involvement and interaction patterns differed between the two, several differences were observed overtime. To preface, it was stated that mere contact betweenRead MoreEssay about Depression and Anxiety in Persons with Divorced Parents1184 Words   |  5 Pagesadditional cause of difficulty in adjustment was that of a parent re-marrying. The newly introduced family structure with a stepparen t or stepfamily often posed emotional adjustment challenges for both sexes at all ages. Although, research shows that boys tend to get along better with stepparents, whereas girls suffer more damaging emotional consequences in stepfamily situations (Chase-Lansdale et al., 1995; Vanassche, Sodermans, Matthijs, Swicegood, 2013). Quarrel between parents negatively impactsRead MoreThe Divorce Cycle : The Children Of Divorce986 Words   |  4 Pagesskills (Wolfinger, 2005). Fifth, the more martial experience the parent has the more likely the child is of having a divorce (Wolfinger, 2005). Lastly, it doesn’t matter if you had an intact family, had parents with multiple divorces, or having stepfamily, the cohabitation rate doesn’t change between the two (Wolfinger, 2005). I found this last result interesting. I think cohabitation is becoming more and more acceptable and is a social norm. According to the article Effects of Parental DivorceRead MoreThe Effect Of Divorce On Children847 Words   |  4 Pagespercent of the children in one study reported not seeing their nonresident father in the past year, and the small number that had recently stayed overnight at the father’s resident did so for a special visit, not as part of a regular routine. An analysis of the National Survey of Families and Households found that about one in five divorced fathers had not seen his children in the past year. By adolescence (between the ages of 12 and 16), fewer than half of children living with separated, divorcedRead MoreLiterature Review On Adolescent Identity Development1141 Words   |  5 Pagesreflect on their accomplishments and regrets in their lifetime (Adelson, 1980; Miller, 2009). 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In the study 1,412 children between the ages of 14 and 16 all whoRead MoreEssay On Time Mothers Spend With Their Children1444 Words   |  6 Pagesincomes was positively correlated with children’s math performance. Along with that, compared to living with married biological parents, children living in stepfamilies or not blood related families, had more behavioral problems, and children living in single-mother households had drastically more emotional problems. Kinds of Data Used in the Analysis: The authors decided to use a time diary and survey data from the Panel of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement. Within this study, the researchersRead MoreKf Is No3045 Words   |  13 Pages A02; supports TNR theory that cohabitating relationships are happy and more stable than a married family. Stigma of LPFs has declined. -RECONSTITUTED/STEP/BLENDED FAMILIES = divorced, separated, widowed, re-married families w/ kids. 880,000 stepfamilies in the UK – 1 in 10 of families with children. -THE EXTENDED FAMILY= is decreasing, less than 3% of all households A02- Young and Wilmott said its disappearing bc of the demands of society, need to move for jobs etc. -CULTURAL/ ETHNIC DIVERSITYRead MoreProfessiona Idenity Paper1479 Words   |  6 Pagesoften utilized by the counselor. The counselor can provide career counseling, job analysis, collaboration and consultation with other systems. Practical interventions are also applied to help the Client overcome barriers to improving quality of life and that may be a contributing factor towards rehabilitation success. Todays Marriage and Family Counselor work with a dynamic population that consists of stepfamilies, single-parent families, childless families and gay families (Wetchler, 2002). The