Chapter 15
New Beginnings: Single-Parent
Families, Remarriages, and
Blended Families
Chapter Outline
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Single-parent Families
Binuclear Families
Remarriage
Blended Families
New Beginnings
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1/2 of all recent marriages involve
at least one previously married
partner.
More than 1/4 of families with
children are currently single-parent
families.
New Beginnings
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1/2 half of all children born in the
1990s will live in single-parent
families sometime during their
childhoods.
Over 2.3 million households have
stepchildren living in them.
Single Parent Families
A more significant departure from the
traditional nuclear family than other
alternative families:
1. Both the dual-worker family and the
stepfamily are two-parent families.
2. Single-parent families are generally
headed by women and are more
vulnerable to poverty.
3. The mother may never have married.
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Rise in Single-parent
Families and Stepfamilies
Result of shifting social values rather
than individual shortcomings or
pathologies.
 Single-parent families and stepfamilies
have become a natural part of the
contemporary American family system.
 Many of their problems lie in the stigma
attached to them and their lack of
support by the larger society.
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Life Pattern of Women:
Previous Generations
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Marriage
Motherhood
Widowhood
Life Pattern of Women
Today
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Marriage
Motherhood
Divorce
Single parenting
Remarriage
Widowhood
Characteristics Of Singleparent Families
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Creation by widowhood, divorce,
or births to unmarried women
Usually female headed
Significance of ethnicity
Poverty
Characteristics Of Singleparent Families
Diversity
 Transitional character
 Some are created intentionally through
planned pregnancy, artificial
insemination, and adoption.
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Characteristics of
Successful Single Parents
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Acceptance of responsibilities and
challenges of single parenthood.
Parenting as first priority.
Consistent, nonpunitive discipline.
Emphasis on open communication.
Characteristics of
Successful Single Parents
Fostering individuality that is supported
by the family.
 Recognition of the need for selfnurturance.
 Dedication to rituals and traditions.
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Strengths Associated With
Successful Single Parenting
Parenting skills: The ability to take on
both expressive and instrumental roles
and traits.
2. Personal growth: A positive attitude
toward the changes in their lives and
pride in overcoming obstacles.
3. Communication: An ability to clearly
convey their feelings to their children
and friends.
1.
Strengths Associated With
Successful Single Parenting
Family management: Ability to
coordinate family, school, and work
activities and to schedule meals,
appointments, family time, and alone
time.
5. Financial support: The ability to
become financially self-supporting and
independent.
4.
The Binuclear Family
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Consists of two nuclear families:
the mother-headed family and the
father- headed family.
The binuclear family consists of
five subsystems:
– former spouse, remarried couple,
parent-child, sibling, and
mother/stepmother-father/stepfather
subsystems
Binuclear Family
Dating and Single Parents
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They may feel guilty about going
out.
They must look at potential
partners as potential parents.
They must deal with their
children’s judgments or hostility.
Remarriage
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Differences from first marriage:
– Partners get to know each other in
the midst of major changes.
– They remarry later in life.
– They have different marital
expectations.
– Their marriage often creates a
stepfamily.
How Stepfamilies Differ
From Original Family
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Almost all members have lost an
important primary relationship.
One biological parent lives outside
the current family.
The relationship between a parent
and child predates the new marital
relationship.
How Stepfamilies Differ
From Original Family
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Stepparent roles are ill defined.
Children often are also members of
the noncustodial parent’s
household.
Children have at least one extra
pair of grandparents.
Becoming a Stepfamily
Each person experiences the process
differently.
 For family members, it involves seven
stages.
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– Early stages are fantasy, immersion, and
awareness.
– Middle stages are mobilization and action.
– Later stages are contact and resolution.
Strengths of Stepfamilies
Improved family functioning and
reduced conflict between former
spouses.
 Children may gain multiple role models,
more flexibility, concerned stepparents,
additional siblings, additional kin,
improved economic situation, and
happily married parents.
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