FSHD 257 Exam 4 chapter 14

Subsystems of the Binuclear Families: Parent-Child Subsystem

-A former single parent must change their roles as they incorporate a new adult into parenting their children.

Subsystems of the Binuclear Families: Remarried Couple Subsystem

-A remarried couple must navigate the complexities of married life while also considering the ex-spouse.

Characteristics of Successful Single Parents

-Accept responsibilities and challenges for single parenthood -Family management skills -Parenting as first priority (ability to take on new parenting roles, consistent, non-punitive parenting) -Emphasis on open & healthy communication -Fostering individually supported by the family -Dedication to rituals and traditions -Take time for effective self-care & personal growth -Financial support & innovation

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Significance of Ethnicity

-African American single-parent families are more likely to be in poverty than are Hispanic or Caucasian families.

Rates and Patterns of Remarriage

-Children lower the probability of remarriage for both men and women, but more so for women. -Initiators are more likely to remarry than non-initiators. -Women's 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. -Remarried couples display patterns of communication and interaction that differentiate then from people in a first marriage. -Endorse more autonomous financial and parenting decisions -Derive benefits from reentering marriage.

Subsystems of the Binuclear Families: Sibling, Step-Sibling, and Half-Sibling Subsystem

-Children must accept one another as family and share the attention of their parent.

Blended Families

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

Later Stages

-Contact stage: the relationship between family members become genuine -Resolution Stage: the family becomes solid and is no longer characterized by earlier troubles

Binuclear Families: Recoupling

-Courtship differs between first marriages and remarriages.(Remarriage courtship may trigger old wounds, fear, 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. -However eager they are to find a new partner, single parents usually keep their children as the central figures in their lives. -Dating with children is much different than dating without children (Sexual experiences & Family dates)

Successful Stepfamily Living

-Develop realistic expectations -Allow time for mourning -Couples nurture a string relationship -Accept that becoming a stepparent takes time -Stepparents develop the role of disciplinarian after bonding with the child/children -Develop a stepfamily history -Work cooperatively with the absent parent

Challenges for Single Parents

-Divorce/death brings... Changes in the emotional environment, Divorce/death hurts all parties involved, Parents have to assume all authority and responsibility that was previously shared, Parents may have difficulty managing the emotional climate (especially if a father ascribes to traditional gender roles)

The Developmental Stages of Stepfamilies

-Early Stages (Fantasy stage & Immersion Stage & Awareness Stage) -Middle Stages (Mobilization Stage & Action Stage) -Later Stages (Contact Stage & Resolution Stage)

Subsystems of the Binuclear Families: Former Spouse Subsystem

-Ex spouses must put aside any anger and resentment felt during the divorce and focus their energy on working together to raise their children.

Strengths of Stepfamilies

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

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

Issues for Stepfamilies: Men in Stepfamilies

-Fathers are not as likely to have custody of their children. This can result in guilt that they are not parenting their children. -Stepfathers tend to have more limited and less positive relationships with their stepchildren.

Step-parenting: Conflict in Stepfamilies

-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. -Money, goods, and services can be divided unequally among family members.

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Poverty

-Female headed single-parent families are disproportionately represented among those in poverty.

Issues for Stepfamilies: Parents

-Focus on building healthy relationship with step child/children before taking on the role of disciplinarian -Support each other and be a unified front -Use healthy parenting principles & practices for all children -Remember that "fairness" for children is not "equal" treatment

Issues for Stepfamilies: Children in Stepfamilies

-Higher risk of having behavioral, psychological, and academic problems. -Outcomes are not the same for all children or all types of stepfamilies.

Stepfamily Characteristics

-Loss of parent or partner (Adults grieve losses of partner, the marital relationship, dreams, and those associated with new "everythings." Children grieve losses of parent, stability, parent's accessibility, and fantasy family.) -Children may be members of two or more households -Family boundaries are ambiguous (When I don't like one person do I tell my dad, How will he react?) -Family roles are ambiguous (Who takes out the trash, does the chores?) -Disparity of individual, marital and family life cycles -Several loyalty conflicts -Society promotes widespread negative connotation of stepfamilies -Experience more stress than nuclear families

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Lesbian and gay Single Parents

-May have become parents in a previous heterosexual relationship or using donors, artificial reproduction technologies, or by adopting. -Marriage rights in all states now allow gay men and lesbians that status as legal single parents (only Nebraska continues with certain discriminatory laws)

Middle Stages

-Mobilization Stage: family members recognize differences and openly resolve conflict -Action Stage: the family takes steps in recognizing themselves as a family

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Headed by Mothers (Sometimes Fathers)

-Over 80% 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.

Marital Satisfaction and Stability in Remarriage

-People seem to be as satisfied in second marriages as they do in first marriages, yet divorce is more likely in second marriages. -Why? (Remarriages are "incomplete institutions." Remarriage lacks societal social norms and behavioral prescriptions. Remarriages are subject to different stresses than first marriages. Children from previous relationships complicate remarriage.)

Children in Single-Parent Families

-Research found negative outcomes for children in single-parent families: behavioral problems, academic performance, mental and physical health. -Children need to cope with their parent's loneliness, depression, and increased stress (similar to a child in a two-parent home coping with parents' marital distress). -Possible positive outcomes as well (Child learning more responsibility, Spending a large amount of time with their custodial parent, Feeling less pressure to conform to normal gender roles).

Issues for Stepfamilies: Women in Stepfamilies

-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 children's biological mother, child rearing becomes very difficult for the stepmother.

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Diversity of Living Arrangements

-Single-parent families can take many forms including the parent's outside romantic partner or live-in partner. (parent needs greater flexibility with child care and housing arrangements) -Social father (A male relative, family associate, or mother's partner who demonstrates father-like behavior) -Private safety nets (Support from social networks that the family can fall back on in times of financial need)

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Creation - divorce, death, births to unmarried women

-Single-parent families created by births to unwed mothers are more common than those created by divorce. (These families receive little social support)

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Transitional Form

-Single-parent families tend to be a transitional family form that can precede marriage or occur after divorce.

Single-parent Family Characteristics: Intentional Single-Parent Families

-Some women who have not found a suitable partner will intentionally become single parents.

Blended Families - Important Distinctions to Note

-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 predates the relationship between the new spouses. *Stepparent roles are ill defined. *Many children are also part of a noncustodial parent's household. *Children have at least on extra set of grandparents

Binuclear Families

-The binuclear family consists of two nuclear families -A maternal nuclear family is headed by a mother (the ex-wife) -A paternal nuclear family is headed by the father (the ex-husband) (*These families include both single-parent families and stepfamilies.)

Subsystems of the Binuclear Families: Mother/Stepmother-Father/Stepfather Subsystem

-The relationships between new spouses and former spouses influence the new family.

Children in Stepfamily Households: Mutual Child

Child is born to remarried couple

Children in Stepfamily Households: Residential Stepchildren

Live in remarried couples' household majority of time

Children in Stepfamily Households: Nonresidential Stepchildren

Live in the household less than half time

Children in Stepfamily Households: Step-siblings

Not biologically related but parents are married to one another

Children in Stepfamily Households: Half-siblings

Share one biological parent

Children in Stepfamily Households: Siblings

Share the same two biological parents