Review of Blended: Writers on the Stepfamily Experience by Samantha Waltz (original) (raw)

Turning points in the development of blended families

Journal of Social and …, 1999

A modified retrospective interview technique (RIT) was employed with members of 53 blended families to determine the types of turning points they reported experiencing and the developmental trajectories of their respective blended family's first 4 years. Findings revealed 15 primary types of turning points, of which 'Changes in Household Configuration', 'Conflict', 'Holidays/Special Events', 'Quality Time' and 'Family Crisis' were the most frequent. A cluster analysis revealed five basic trajectories of development for the first 48 months of family development: Accelerated, Prolonged, Stagnating, Declining and High-amplitude Turbulent. The trajectories differed in the overall positive-to-negative valence ratio, the frequency of conflict related events, the average amplitude of change in feeling like a family, and the current reported level of feeling like a family.

Deconstructing dominant stepfamily narratives : freeing silent voices

1997

Were it not for the support and understanding of a number of people this study would not have been completed. To my wife Caron whose patience and support was unstinting; to my supervisor Dian for her ideas, comments and commitment; to Claudette who went through it with a fme-tooth comb; to my late mother who made this all possible; Natascia whose ideas inspired me and finally, and most importantly, to my stepson Christopher who has taught more in a few short years than a career at university and who I watch each day with wonder.

The Cultural Context of Stepfamilies

Stepfamily Relationships, 2004

The Cultural Context of Stepfamilies Stepfamilies do not live in a cultural vacuum. Neither do researchers, educators, practitioners, or policymakers. As we noted briefly in the first chapter, prevailing cultural values and belief systems about remarriages and stepfamilies affect the perspectives of individuals who study and work with stepfamilies. More importantly, cultural beliefs and values wield strong influences on the ways in which stepfamily members think about their relationships, interact together, and feel about each other (Bray, 1999; Berger, 2000). In short, stepfamily relationships and the dynamics of step families are determined, at least in part, by the prevailing ideologies in their cultural contexts. For this reason, we present a brief overview of the cultural milieu in which stepfamilies live before we explore stepfamily functioning in depth in later chapters. We think it is important to understand the social and psychological environments in which individuals create stepfamilies (e.g., remarrying adults), find themselves conscripted into step families (e.g., stepchildren), or interact with stepfamily members (e.g., teachers, clergy). What are the prevailing ideologies in the cultural context in which stepfamilies live? Over the last 2 decades researchers from around the world have examined how people perceive stepfamilies and stepfamily positions (e.g., stepmother, stepfather, stepchild). Ideologies about stepfamilies are remarkably similar in Western cultures-studies

Stepfamilies Doing Family: A Meta-Ethnography

Family Process, 2017

The present review examines how stepfamily members without a shared history co-construct a shared family identity and what family processes are relevant in this stepfamily formation. Three databases (Web of Science, PsycInfo, and ProQuest) were systematically searched, resulting in 20 included qualitative studies. The meta-ethnography approach of Noblit and Hare (1988) allowed synthesizing these qualitative studies and constructing a comprehensive framework of stepfamilies doing family. Three interdependent family tasks were identified: (a) honoring the past, (b) marking the present, and (c) investing in the future. Stepfamily members' experiences of these family tasks are strongly affected by the dominant societal perspectives and characterized by an underlying dialectical tension between wanting to be like a first-time family and feeling the differences of their family structure at the same time. These findings clearly demonstrate the family work all stepfamily members undertake and provide a broader context for interpreting stepfamilies' co-construction of a new family identity.

Exploring Diverse Blended Families: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Hear Their Voices

2010

It has been predicted that if you were born in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a one in two chance of either living in a blended family as a child or as an adult (Coleman, Ganong, & Fine, 2000). In 1989, Glick predicted that in the 21 century, blended families would be the leading family form. Today in 2010, they are far from being a new phenomenon (Stewart, 2008). They are a rapidly growing part of the American population according to Census data and over half of American families may be blended, i.e., formed by (married or non-married) partners with children. This investigation is a small scale, exploratory, and descriptive study of diverse blended family couples who are formed from married parents, non-married parents, gay parents and lesbian parents with biological children who live in the residence and are the product of former relationships. The main focus was to investigate dominant cultural models of these families and given those constructs, how did the couples conform to, t...

Stepmother experiences and emotional construction

Clinical and Experimental Psychology , 2024

Background: The emotional construction of women who experience step motherhood is influenced by the habitus preserved in the cultural memory of society. It is known that stepmothers experience negative emotional states due to the issues they face in blended families. This study focuses on the emotions of women who have experienced being stepdaughters. The inadequacy of studies focusing solely on the feelings and thoughts of stepdaughters leads to insufficient solutions for blended family issues. Aim: The aim of this study is to understand how the emotional construction of women who have experienced being stepdaughters is formed and to compare the emotions of stepdaughters with those of stepmothers. The study does not include stepmothers; information about the emotions of stepmothers was obtained from existing literature. Understanding the emotions of women who have experienced being stepdaughters will provide insights into their current and future behaviors. This data will contribute to practical solutions for problems in blended families. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with seven women who have experienced being stepdaughters; six are married with children, and one is single and childless. The data were analyzed using discourse analysis. When discourse, which is an expression of emotions and thoughts, is meticulously analyzed, it reveals the in-depth characteristics of the person we aim to understand. Therefore, the discourse analysis method was preferred in this research. Findings: The study revealed the following emotional experiences in women who have experienced being stepdaughters: • Emotional turmoil and isolation • Jealousy and competition • The ongoing impact of negative family Dynamics • Feelings of gratitude from positive experiences with stepmothers, 5-Reciprocity of emotions between stepmothers and stepdaughters. Conclusion: Implementing ongoing programs that deconstruct cultural constructs about step motherhood and step daughterhood for members of blended families will contribute to solving current and potential issues by fostering healthy relationships. The reciprocal emotions of stepmothers and stepdaughters highlight the necessity of family therapies. Keywords: Blended family • Step motherhood • Step childhood • Emotional construction • Discourse analysis