|
Page 1 of 6 Kate Funder, Simon Kinsella and Peta Courtney
Parents have a
distinct advantage when forming a stepfamily: the choice of partner is
theirs. Repartnered parents report a significant rise in wellbeing
(Weston 1989), and they find their new partners to be supportive in
parenting matters (Funder 1991a). But not everything comes up roses:
second marriages are more likely than first unions to end in divorce
while the children in stepfamilies are likely to have somewhat lower
self-esteem (Ochiltree 1990), to leave home early because of conflict,
and to cut short their education (Kiernan, 1991; Young 1987). O'Connor
(1989) also reports the over- representation of children from
stepfamilies among the homeless children.
A step-parent
changes a family in many ways. On the positive side, children may
benefit from having a parent whose satisfaction with life is greater
due to the advent of the new partner. A second, and most often male,
income raises the household's standard of living (Weston 1989) while
the new adult may increase the adult and kin contacts available to the
child (Funder 1991b), and provide a sense of security.
But the
move into a stepfamily is more often analysed in terms of problems to
be overcome, such as adapting to the new partner, changes in roles and
behaviours, competition for affection, confusion of identity,
difficulty in establishing behavioural norms, and uncertainties about
belonging and boundaries. This emphasis on difficulties stems, perhaps,
from the need to provide remedies for distress where it occurs, and
from the availability to researchers of people who seek help. It may
also reflect the expectation that stepfamilies will be aberrant,
because society does not have well- defined norms for behaviour and
roles in such families.
Children's views on stepfamilies and
how the children respond to different conditions, and how these
families meet children's needs are important issues for educators and
policy makers, as well as for the parents and children involved.
A
1987 Institute study, Parents and Children after Marriage Breakdown,
included the views of children from a representative cross-section of
families in which parents divorced. The parental sample of 523 men and
women had already been interviewed before for the 1984 AIFS Economic
Consequences of Marriage Breakdown study. This sample was not selected
from support groups for parents or from families looking for help, but
from the Australian Bureau of Statistics data tape on divorces. The
sample was representative of parents with two dependent children who
divorced after marriages lasting from five to 14 years; these couples
form the largest group among divorces with dependent children. Full
details of the sample are described in Settling Up (McDonald ed. 1986).
In cases where both parents were interviewed, their children
were also included in the follow-up study. This resulted in 105
children from 55 families being interviewed, thus providing independent
views from children and both parents on family life and wellbeing
following separation.
|
