Chapter 17

Remarriages and Stepfamilies

Chapter Outline Remarriage: Some Basic Facts Choosing Partners the Next Time:

Variations on a Theme Spouses’ Happiness/Satisfaction and

Stability in Remarriage Remarried Families: A Normless Norm

Chapter Outline Children’s Well-Being in Stepfamilies Stepparenting: A Challenge in Remarriage Creating Supportive Stepfamilies

Remarriage: Basic Facts The remarriage rate rose sharply during

World War II, peaking as the war ended. During the 1950s, the divorce rate and the

remarriage rate declined and remained low until the 1960s.

The remarriage rate peaked again in about 1975 but declined slightly after that.

Reasons For the Decline in Remarriage Many divorced people who would have

remarried in the past are cohabiting. Economic constraints and uncertainties,

discourage divorced men, who may already be paying child support, from assuming financial responsibility for a new family.

Marriage Rates

Children Under 18 Living With 2 Parents, by Biological, Step, and Adoptive Status

Remarriage Rates Per 1,000 Women Over 15, by Age at Remarriage

Reasons For The Low Stability of Remarriages

1. People who divorce are disproportionately from lower middle- and lower-class groups, which have a higher tendency to divorce.

2. People who remarry after divorce are more accepting of divorce and are willing to choose divorce as a way to resolve an unsatisfactory marriage.

Reasons For The Low Stability of Remarriages3. Remarrieds receive less social support from

their families of origin and are less integrated with parents and in-laws.

4. Remarriages present some stresses on a couple that are not inherent in first marriages.

Remarriages and Stepchildren The most significant factor in the comparative

instability of remarriages is the presence of stepchildren.

One important study on a national sample of black and white couples concluded that stepchildren are not necessarily associated with more frequent marital conflict.

The negative impact of stepchildren declines with the length of the remarriage.

Major Structural Characteristics of Three American Family Patterns

StepfamiliesNuclear (Intact)

FamiliesSingle-parent

Families

Biological parent is elsewhere.

Both biological parents are

present.

Biological parent is elsewhere.

Virtually all members have recently

sustained a primary relationship loss.

——————

All members have recently sustained a

primary relationship loss.

Major Structural Characteristics of Three American Family Patterns

StepfamiliesNuclear (Intact)

FamiliesSingle-parent

Families

An adult couple is in the household.

An adult couple is in the household.

——————

Relationship between one adult and child predates

the marriage.

Spousal relationship

predates parental ones.

Parental relationship is the primary

family relationship.

Challenges in Remarried Families With Stepchildren: Finances

Money problems arise from two sources: financial obligations from first marriages and stepparent role ambiguity.

A remarried spouse (usually the husband) generally is financially accountable by law for children from the first union and financially responsible for stepchildren.

Challenges in Remarried Families With Stepchildren: Role Ambiguity

Relatively low role ambiguity has been associated with higher remarital satisfaction, especially for wives, and with greater parenting satisfaction, especially for stepfathers.

The roles of stepchild and stepparent are not well defined, clearly understood, or fully agreed upon by stepfamily members.

Challenges in Remarried Families With Stepchildren: Stepchildren’s Hostility

After age 2 or 3 children harbor fantasies that their original parents will reunite.

Children who want their natural parents to remarry may feel that sabotaging the new relationship will help achieve that goal.

7 Stage Model of Stepfamily Development

1. Fantasy—adults expect a quick adjustment while children expect that the stepparent will disappear and their parents will be reunited.

2. Immersion—tension-producing conflict emerges between the stepfamily’s two biological “subunits.”

3. Awareness—family members realize that their early fantasies are not becoming reality.

7 Stage Model of Stepfamily Development4. Mobilization—family members initiate efforts

toward change.

5. Action—remarried adults decide to form a solid alliance, family boundaries are better clarified, and there is more positive stepparent–stepchild interaction.

7 Stage Model of Stepfamily Development

6. Contact—the stepparent becomes a significant adult family figure, and the couple assumes more control.

7. Resolution—the stepfamily achieves integration and appreciates its unique identity as a stepfamily.

Quick Quiz

1. Perhaps the most significant factor in the comparative instability of remarriages is the presence of stepchildren.

a) True

b) false

Answer: T The most significant factor in the

comparative instability of remarriages is the presence of stepchildren.

2. According to the text, recognizing that homogamy increases the likelihood of marital stability, we might hypothesize that divorced people tended more toward ______ than nondivorced people the first time around and that they repeat or accentuate this tendency when they remarry.

a) heterogamy

b) endogamy

c) exogamy

d) homogamy

Answer: a According to the text, recognizing that

homogamy increases the likelihood of marital stability, we might hypothesize that divorced people tended more toward heterogamy than nondivorced people the first time around and that they repeat or accentuate this tendency when they remarry.

3. According to the text, double remarriages involving stepchildren display what level of risk for dissolution?

a) very low

b) low

c) elevated

d) very elevated

Answer: d According to the text, double

remarriages involving stepchildren display a very elevated level of risk for dissolution.

4. Which of the following is NOT one of the stages in the seven-stage model of family development?

a) fantasy

b) fear

c) action

d) contact

Answer: b Fear is NOT one of the stages in the

seven-stage model of family development.