Blended Family

There is no right or wrong way to make a family. Families come in all different mixtures that make a unit and not a single one is perfect. Although blended families will never be considered “traditional” they are becoming more conventional in today’s society due to the high divorce rate in the United States. More than half of Americans will be part of a blended family during their lifetime since the family has become more complex and less traditional according to the ACS and Decennial Census

The family dynamics in Max Apple’s “Stepdaughters” and Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets” displays some of the issues that parents, stepparents and teenagers may or may not experience. A mother’s relationship with her children has a very unique connection, especially when it comes our daughters. Being a mother or stepmother is a problematical and rewarding experience: nevertheless, a mother’s love is unconditional. How do you except someone for his or her choices on being different? Is it easier for a step-parent to see things more clearly that the biological parent? Every family has its issues. When it’s a blended family with mothers, fathers, stepchildren and other family member, those issues can become more complex to understand.

This research proposes to explore the relationships that blended families experience and to determine what realistic expectations are, and how blended families use them when working towards becoming a well-functioning family unit. Like the average nuclear family, blended families are unique in their own way. In the article Couples Considering a Blended Family, it is stated that families are to evade the ideal expectations for a nuclear family as one would for a blended family (Fogarty et al., 2006). With this in mind, this research will examine the findings to detect what realistic exceptions are and how much do they differ than those of a nuclear family when looking to create a stable union. While looking to determine what is to be considered a realistic expectation and how that reflects for all blended families; this research will further dissect several articles as researchers examine different factors that tie into becoming a blended family. With several types of blended families in the world, this research will also explore the relationship differences within the types of blended families, and how this can further help researchers when looking into the expectations and outcomes of creating a family bond.

The percentage of blended families in America is, “68% of re-marriages involve children from prior marriages” (The bonded family 2015). A majority of the families that you see are blended in some way or form. 48 percent of marriage will end in a divorce (The bonded family 2015), which says that many children are living in blended homes. The article talks about how parents struggle with keep tabs on everything that is happen at school for their children. Another issues that the article talked about was how if both parents were remarried that there was a lack of communication between the two parents about the child. “The parents likely couldn’t problem-solve then, when they were married, so I can’t really expect them to now” (H. Williams, 2014). This is an issue because the children are being effected by the bad communication between the

Handling a blended family could be very challenging even for step parents who have a great relationship with your stepchildren. I think this week’s movie clip "The Scoop on Blended Families" offers realistic guidance from teens that have experience what it’s like to live in a blended family and how they have adjusted to their new step family. All family sometimes struggles to be happy, but blended families often face greater obstacles than others. For example, the quality of the relationship between stepparents and stepchildren cause a great impact on the level of happiness of a blended family. Loyalty to biological children and know how to discipline also add significant complications. This movie could be very helpful and educational to anyone

I was reading an article that addressed this specific challenge and offered some additional insight (Supernanny Team 2014). In the middle of the article there is a section titled, Make time for your children. The article alludes to the fact that the blended family must spend time together to bond. However, the biological

Family structure includes family composition with different roles and relationships between all members of family. Painful divorce and remarriage “ involve a complex transition that requires the disintegration of one family structure and reorganization to another.” (Edelman, Mandle, & Kudzma, 2014). Blended families are becoming more familiar in the USA. As a family is functioning within a social environment, therefore some exchange of information occurs. This exchange may be positive or negative as well. Conflicts of interest and stress situations may happen during the integration of new family members as each of two families “has its unique culture, value structure, and history.” (Edelman et al, 2014).

Belonging is defined as “ knowing where and with whom you belong” by acknowledging children’s interdependence and belonging to family, cultural group, a neighborhood, and wider community (DEEWR, 2009). Children form relationships with others and begin to shape who they are and who they can become within their world.

Blended family is one of the examples of new form of family units. Blended family is when two people get married and live together with their children from previous marriages. The child always follow their mother as women often win custody of their children when divorce. The stepfathers in blended families might encounter the same problem, that is, hard to discipline the child. These children, especially the teenagers during puberty might refuse to obey their stepfather and ignore them. For example, when the stepfather reprimand the child for playing computer games, the child may refuse to obey and claim that his biological father allows him to

And I always believed that blended families were helpful on all levels, but once a child suffers through a divorce it’s always detrimental to some extent even if their blended family is really

No stranger to blended families, when we raised our family, my husband and I found out quickly that not everyone is the Brady Bunch. Every year when my my children arrived home from summer visitation with their dad, we heard detailed descriptions about how their stepsiblings got spoiled while my kids went without. My children claimed their father loved his stepchildren more than he loved them, his own flesh and blood.

Two colleagues are conducting a research study on blended families. The parents have been asked for consent to allow their children to participate in the study. Both of the colleagues conducted their own interviews. One the children allowed in the study was absent and colleague (A) decides to sit in on the other colleagues’ interview. In the beginning of the interview Sybil, the student, is asked a question regarding her step sisters. She refuses to talk and immediately starts crying. Then colleague (B), conducting the interview tells her that she must answer the question, and that makes Sybil cry even more. Finally, the colleague gives up and allows her to go back to class. He then calls her mom and tells her that Sybil was uncooperative.

Sam has been made vulnerable to mental issues owning to some major events during her childhood including separation of her parents. Amato and Keith (1991) revealed that the children of broken families are at higher risk of developing mental health issues such as aggression, anxiety, depression and criminal behaviour. There is also an evidence that mental issues in children caused by parental separation can continue well into adulthood (Amato & Keith, 1991; Chase-Lonsdale, Cherlin, & Kiernan, 1995; Rodgers, 1994). In this case it can be suggested that she was exploited in a blended family after her mother remarried including sexual abuse by her stepbrother.

They give us love, support, self-esteem, companionship, security, and the sense of belonging. We all want to feel a part of something. Belonging is an emotional need we seek, whether it is in family, friends, co-workers, or peers. Albert Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs ranging from basic physiological needs to self-actualization, which are needs related to identity and purpose (McLeod, S. A. 2016). The family is the unit to the foundation. People who are not raised in a family that enforces rules or taught the ways of society may have difficulty functioning in society because they will not know how to act. Therefore, it is essential that children, as well as adults, are surrounded by love and support and raised in the right way, including spiritually, to be more successful in

Stability in any family is important however, building and maintaining stability in a blended family is much harder due to the many variables a blended family faces. We will explore some of these challenges and the results of them.