Ch. 11 Parenting in Non-traditional Families Flashcards
Traditional vs. Nontraditional Families
Single Parents – the most common form. Reasons for:
- Never married
- Separated or divorced
- Death of spouse
Dramatic change since 1960…
Raising Children in One-parent Families is an Increasing Trend in the Developed World, highest in the US
T/F: Increase in divorce rate results in single parents
True
High Stress Situations for Non-Traditional families
○ Financial problems
○ Relationship problems
○ Parenting demands
○ Lack of time for self
Social Support Can Help
- Material & financial
- Social
Explanations for Teen Parents
- Proposed explanations:
○ Fewer sexually active
○ More using effective contraceptives
○ More using contraceptives on first sexual experience
Impacts of Teen Pregnancy on Mother and Baby
○ Medical/psychological
○ Pregnant teens more likely to develop anemia
○ More likely to develop pregnancy-related high blood pressure
○ Risk of dying during labor 2-4 times greater for women under 17
○ Poor maternal weight gain and nutrition
○ More likely to deliver low birth weight babies
Teen Moms may
○ Experience parenting as a crisis
○ Be unprepared
○ Have identity development conflicts with parenting role
○ Have adolescent egocentrism which interferes with empathy
○ Suffer from stress and unstable family life
Single fathers:
○ Less likely to live below the poverty line
○ More likely to be employed
○ Tend to be younger than married fathers, but older than single mothers
○ Do not have as many children as married fathers but more than single mother
○ More likely to live with other relatives in the household
○ Very few receive child support from the mother
○ Tend to suffer more work-family conflicts than married fathers or single mothers
Types of remarriage
○ Blended
○ Binuclear
○ Step-Families
○ Reconstituted
Stepfamily Phases
- Fantasy (we’ll all get along just fine)
- Immersion (chaos and confusion)
- Establish boundaries
- Improve communication
- Make joint decisions
- Interaction becomes more natural
- Achieve resolution (feel) of family
Unrealistic Expectations
- Our blended/step-family will function just like our first family.
- There will be instant love among all family members.
- Everything will quickly fall into place; adjustments will be easy.
- The children will be as happy about the remarriage/new family as we are.
- The stepchildren want a relationship and will be easy to get along with
Co-parenting Guidelines
Be united in your leadership roles.
* Don’t initiate major changes (rules and routines) too soon.
* Establish clearly defined rules in a timely manner.
* Be flexible and adaptable when possible.
* Use a weekly family council time to negotiate family goals.
* Stand together on goals and expectations decided in the family council.
Create strategies for making decisions, negotiating solutions, and resolving problems
Potential Strengths of Stepfamilies
- Stepchildren learn problem solving, negotiation, and coping skills and also become more flexible and adaptable as they adjust to the new stepfamily.
- The presence of a greater number of mature adults adds support and exposes children to a wider variety of people and experiences.
- Additional role models are available to children.
Some Effects of Stepfamilies on Children
- Some studies report that there are few, if any, emotional or behavioral differences between stepchildren and other children.
- Other studies show that stepchildren are at about a 20% risk for negative outcomes, a higher rate than children living with both biological parents.
