Blended Families

Thesis Statement

Blended families are summarized to address development, communication strategies, and relationships.

Introduction

Current research on blended families is summarized to address blended family development, communication strategies, and relationships between stepparents and stepchildren. Considerations for family counselors and blended families are addressed. Implications for future research opportunities include multicultural issues within blended families and stepmothers' relationships with their stepchildren. The American divorce rate has reached a normative level, averaging about 50% (Carter & McGoldrick, pp 20-105). A large percentage of divorced couples are remarrying and increasing the number of blended families living together. It is estimated that approximately 20% of children younger than the age of 18 reside in stepparent households. As the structure of American families continues to expand in its complexity, it is imperative that marriage and family counselors conceptualize family issues and clinical interventions from an empirically based perspective. Relying on assumptions about blended families may perpetuate cultural beliefs that endorse a deficit perspective of stepfamily functioning (Malia, pp 12-112). The current research on blended families within the past 7 years has increasingly reflected the transition from the nuclear family to a more diverse blending of families. The recent research explored in this literature review contains important considerations for counselors on the development of blended families, relationship building between the stepparent and stepchildren, and development of resiliency factors.

Becoming a Successful Blended Family

Braithwaite, Olson, Golish, Soukup, and Turman (2001) conducted a qualitative/interpretive method analyzing 980 pages of interview transcripts with stepparents and stepchildren in response to the limited research addressing how blended families join together; the limited understanding of family communication including boundary management, conflict resolution, and role negotiation; and the limited knowledge about the role that communication plays in blended family functioning. Past literature addressing developmental stage-based models were noted to be limited in three ways—namely, being prescriptive in nature, stating how the families “should” develop, a lack of information concerning diversity within the blended family structure, and not expressing the dynamic shifts of blended family relationships (Braithwaite et al., pp 23-292).

Braithwaite et al. (2001) focused on gathering a holistic understanding of blended families across the first 4 years of family development by using a framework initially developed by Baxter, Braithwaite, and Nicholson (1999). Using a hierarchical cluster analysis, Baxter et al. created five developmental trajectories: (a) accelerated (characterized by clear assumption of parental roles by stepparent and by perceptions of children as being related to each other as siblings), (b) prolonged (characterized by low levels of solidarity and by being functional), (c) declining (characterized by an initial perception of a “perfect” and ideal family that has been replaced by a disillusioned and distraught perception), (d) stagnating (characterized by fluctuating expectations and role ambiguity), and (e) high-amplitude turbulent (characterized by difficulty accepting new family roles). These developmental trajectories became the defining categories for Braithwaite et al.'s study.

Participants included 5 biological/adoptive parents, 15 stepparents, and 33 stepchildren. Their descriptions across the 4 years were divided into the five trajectories to identify the blended families' ...