Stepfamily

About: Stepfamily is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1408 publications have been published within this topic receiving 51484 citations. The topic is also known as: blended family & step family.

The deinstitutionalization of American marriage

Abstract: This article argues that marriage has undergone a process of deinstitutionalization—a weakening of the social norms that define partners’ behavior—over the past few decades. Examples are presented involving the increasing number and complexity of cohabiting unions and the emergence of same-sex marriage. Two transitions in the meaning of marriage that occurred in the United States during the 20th century have created the social context for deinstitutionalization. The first transition, noted by Ernest Burgess, was from the institutional marriage to the companionate marriage. The second transition was to the individualized marriage in which the emphasis on personal choice and self-development expanded. Although the practical importance of marriage has declined, its symbolic significance has remained high and may even have increased. It has become a marker of prestige and personal achievement. Examples of its symbolic significance are presented. The implications for the current state of marriage and its future direction are discussed. A quarter century ago, in an article entitled ‘‘Remarriage as an Incomplete Institution’’ (Cherlin, 1978), I argued that American society lacked norms about the way that members of stepfamilies should act toward each other. Parents and children in first marriages, in contrast, could rely on well-established norms, such as when it is appropriate to discipline a child. I predicted that, over time, as remarriage after divorce became common, norms would begin to emerge concerning proper behavior in stepfamilies—for example, what kind of relationship a stepfather should have with his stepchildren. In other words, I expected that remarriage would become institutionalized, that it would become more like first marriage. But just the opposite has happened. Remarriage has not become more like first marriage; rather, first marriage has become more like remarriage. Instead of the institutionalization of remarriage,

Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of Multigenerational Bonds

Abstract: Family relationships across several generations are becoming increasingly important in American society. They are also increasingly diverse in structure and in functions. In reply to the widely debated “family decline” hypothesis, which assumes a nuclear family model of 2 biological parents and children, I suggest that family multigenerational relations will be more important in the 21st century for 3 reasons: (a) the demographic changes of population aging, resulting in “longer years of shared lives” between generations; (b) the increasing importance of grandparents and other kin in fulfilling family functions; (c) the strength and resilience of intergenerational solidarity over time. I also indicate that family multigenerational relations are increasingly diverse because of (a) changes in family structure, involving divorce and stepfamily relationships; (b) the increased longevity of kin; (c) the diversity of intergenerational relationship “types.” Drawing on the family research legacy of Ernest W. Burgess, I frame my arguments in terms of historical family transitions and hypotheses. Research from the Longitudinal Study of Generations is presented to demonstrate the strengths of multigenerational ties over time and why it is necessary to look beyond the nuclear family when asking whether families are still functional.

Handbook of marriage and the family

Abstract: PREFACE.-Balancing Connectedness and Autonomy in Diverse Families.-II. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOCAL ISSUES.-The Current Status of Theorizing About Families.-The Demography of Families.-Quantitative Methodology for Family Science.-Qualitative Family Research: Enduring Themes and Contemporary Variations.-Systemic and Ecological Qualities of Families.-Feminism and Families.-Stress Processes in Families and Couples.-Conceptualizing Cultural Influences on Socialization: Comparing Parent-Adolescent Relationships in the U.S. and Mexico.-II. RELATIONSHIPS, PROCESSES, AND ROLES IN FAMILIES.-Dating and Mate Selection.-Marriage Relationships in the 21st Century.-Living Together Unmarried: What Do We Know About Cohabiting Families?--Child Relationships in Diverse Contexts.-Theory and Research Pertaining to Families with Adolescents.-Sibling Relationships.-Father's Nurturance of Children Over the Life Course.-Adulthood and Aging in Families.-Gender and Family Relationships.-Sexuality in Families: The (Re) Creation of Sexual Culture.-Family Violence.-Marital Dissolution.-Remarriage and Stepfamily Life.-III. FAMILIES AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS.- Work and Family Through Time and Space: Revisiting old Themes and Charting New Directions.-Family Economic Well-Being.- The Division of Household Labor.-Religion and Family Research in the Twenty First Century.-IV. DIVERSITY IN FAMILY LIFE.- Family Lives of Lesbian and Gay Adults.-African American Families: Research Progress and Potential in the Age of Obama.-Asian American Families Adjustment to the U.S. Context: The Ecology of Strength and Stress.- Latino Families in the United States.- V. APPLICATION OF FAMILY SOCIAL SCIENCE.-Social Policies and Families through an Ecological Lens.-Families and Communities: A Social Organization Theory of Action and Change.-Family Life Education: Issues and Challenges in Professional Practice.-Family Therapy: An "Emerging Field".-Teaching about Family Science as a Discipline.-VI. Diverse Families: Islands of Refuge in the Midst of Troubled Waters?

Reinvestigating Remarriage: Another Decade of Progress

Abstract: The article presents an overview of research and theory on remarriages and stepfamilies published in the 1990s. Remarriage is a term that encompasses several different types of relationships--both partners may be in a second marriage or a higher-order marriage. About 75 percent of divorced people remarry and serial remarriages are increasingly common. As people age, however, the divorce rates of first marriages and remarriages converge. The mean length of time between divorce and remarriage is less than four years. Men remarry at higher rates than do women and blacks and Hispanics remarry at lower rates than whites. A substantial proportion of U.S. births occurs in remarriages. Some first marriages create stepfamilies and stepparent-stepchild relationships. In 1992, 15 percent of all children in the U.S. lived with a mother and a stepfather. Although the presence of stepchildren is thought to lower marital quality for remarried adults, the effects are not always strong. A number of intrapersonal, interpersonal and societal-level explanations have been proposed for the greater instability of remarriages. Adolescent stepchildren also generally showed more externalizing behavioral problems than children living with both parents such as using drugs and alcohol, engaging in sexual intercourse, nonmarital childbearing and being arrested.

Coping with family transitions: winners, losers, and survivors.

Abstract: This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of the effects of divorce and remarriage on children's adjustment. It was found that individual characteristics, such as children's temperament, family relations, and extrafamilial factors, played an important role in exacerbating or buffering children from negative consequences associated with their parents' marital transitions