Blended Family Research Paper

In today’s society, there are a variety of family structures in which children live. Normally, a traditional family consisted of a married couple and their biological children. No other persons were involved in the household except the children and their parents. Over the last several decades, we have seen a change in family structures. We see a new family structure called blended families growing every day. According to researchers, there are now more re-married couples than there are first married couples. They are the majority of marriages in America. Blended families include at least one step parent, step siblings or half siblings. These children do not share a common biological parent. Although there are many children who can say they

Having a new step-family is a big change for some children, this may affect their emotional development, as they

Our culture helps shape the type of people each of us become and the course we take throughout our lifetime. With a variety of cultures comes an unlimited array of life experiences which include similarities and differences between all groups of people. It is important to learn of another person’s experiences which will help expand our understanding of the world we live in. In order to get this understanding, I chose to interview a woman named Isabella who comes from a family that originated outside the United States. When her mother was still a child, she made her way from Mexico to the United States with her family in search of better opportunities. Her father was born in Spain and met her mother when visiting in the United States. Growing up in a home with two separate cultures helped Isabella become a well-rounded person and accepting of other

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.

In life many individuals will experience the joys of marital bliss with the pleasure of happiness when they see their spouse, the thought of living their entire lives together, starting and raising a family, the process of buying their first home together as a married couple, and overall embarking on a new and profound journey with the one they love; on the contrary however many of these same couples will encounter times in the relationship and within their immediate family that will include feelings of: being overwhelmed, stressed, annoyed with their spouse, children, stepchildren “as many families are blended due to many first marriages ending in divorce after children have been conceived,” stress from work, bills, as well as the many other

They are on a regular diet with few restrictions on fried foods and fat intake. The children eat school lunch and the parents from outside restaurant choices. Mom tries to cook a meal a day after work or they seldom eat Subway or Pizza Hut. No variation in weight gain or weight loss reported. They try to eat dinner as a family at home on a regular basis. However, this was not feasible all of the time due to dad’s late night work hours and CH basketball practices after school. They generally get 6-7 hours of sleep per night and denied any sleep deprivation. No exercise program has been implemented by this family. CH is the only physically, athletic member. DH stated that he likes to ride his bike. The children are active in Sunday school and participate in summer camp.

You presented a great discussion post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on blended families and including your own personal experience. It was obvious from reading your post that you have a passion for blended families. The Daily Muse is a wonderful journal publication that offers advice about careers and career goals. An article from that publication, written by Ruth Zive (2016), does a great job of sharing advice about doing what you love and pursuing your passion with others. It is an article that might resonate with your new career and how you feel about blended families.

Although blended families will probably never be considered “traditional”, they are becoming more common every year. Some common myths about stepfamilies are that children of divorce are considered damaged. Some children do have problems adjusting to a new family. They may feel resentment for new

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 just want to say thank you for all the phones calls, Texts, and FB post for my birthday today. I know I am truly blessed to have friends, family, and love ones who will take the time to wish me a Happy Birthday. I really appreciate the love and hope I can continue to be the person I am with people who care. Thanks to my wife who took me out for my Prime Rib dinner and all my kids for checking on the old man. Bless to all.

Blended families are created from a diverse sets of needs as a result of family life changes, such as divorce or death, and these changes result in situations where both adults and children find themselves living with step-family members stemming from both sides of the no longer intact family structure. Deal (2014), a leading author and marriage therapist, likens the blended family to a 3-D puzzle that a person is trying to complete without the benefit of instructions or even a picture as a point of reference. Each family is different in roles and their structure; however, most members desire healthy outcomes and basic principles for creating well-functioning family units.

Deal (2014) uses his professional clinical experiences as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor combined with his professional experience in local church ministry and family ministry consulting to create the book The smart stepfamily: Seven steps to a healthy family. Deal (2014) purpose of writing this book is to help the blended families understand and learn how to integrate or merge the two families into a healthy successful stepfamily (p 21-22). Deal (2014) is straightforward about integrating a stepfamily is a difficult task for today’s families since it involves merging two distinctive family histories, styles, numerous personalities, preference, traditions, relational past and loyalties. He highlights

Valarie is 18 years old and comes from a mixed Asian-American heritage. Valarie’s mother is from Thailand and his father is from America. Valarie is a special needs LD (learning disabilities) student recently started attending our church through a relationship with a girl in our youth group. We met through Wednesday Small Groups where I help with the youth guys group. While Valarie has only been coming to our gatherings for a short time we have developed a friendship and he was more than willing to share with me.

Specific thesis: The blended families and multicultural families become increasingly familiar. Understanding the basics of these families, is, therefore, critical for the family embraces its strengths in working through their differences. According to the research carried out by Michele Martin on the experience of the remarried couples in the blended families, differing loyalties cause various challenges for both biological and step-parents. Just like blended families, the shadow side of multicultural families can loom heavily in the relationships leading to various challenges. Chang and Chin-Chun (page 24, 2014) agrees that it is caused, primarily, by differences in culture and the differences in the cultures makes the parents face difficulties in raising children.

I don’t think you’ve met my mother. My mom graduated from United High School and she is currently going to college. I am so happy to have a hard working mother and that always does everything in her heart to make me and my brother happy.