Chapter 11

Question 1

The 2011 Census counted which type of family for the first time?

a. stepfamilies
b. lone-parent families
c. extended families
d. intentional families

Answer 1

stepfamilies

Question 2

In 2011, stepfamilies represented which proportion of couple families with children?

a. one in five
b. one in eight
c. one in ten
d. one in fourteen

Answer 2

one in eight

Question 3

Which of the following describes a stepfamily when the current married spouse or common-law partner adopts the child or children of the other married spouse or common-law partner?

a. nothing changes
b. it becomes a simple stepfamily
c. it becomes a complex stepfamily
d. it is no longer a stepfamily

Answer 3

it is no longer a stepfamily

Question 4

Which term describes a family in which all children are the biological or adopted children of one and only one married spouse or common-law partner in the couple?

a. simple stepfamily
b. complex stepfamily
c. lone-parent family
d. unblended stepfamily

Answer 4

simple stepfamily

Question 5

Gisèle is married to René. They live together with Gisèle’s daughter and René’s two sons. What kind of family is this?

a. simple stepfamily
b. complex stepfamily
c. extended family
d. binuclear family

Answer 5

complex stepfamily

Question 6

Since World War II, which change has taken place regarding remarriage?

a. Recently there has been an increase in remarriage among the widowed.
b. There has been a shift from widowed to divorced individuals among those remarrying.
c. The widowed who now remarry were, on the average, older when their husbands died.
d. There has been a shift from divorced to widowed individuals among those remarrying.

Answer 6

There has been a shift from widowed to divorced individuals among those remarrying.

Question 7

Which of the following is a reason for an increase in remarriages?

a. more people are widowed
b. more people are divorced
c. more people marry at a younger age
d. families are getting larger

Answer 7

more people are divorced

Question 8

Which of the following is true regarding the choice to remarry?

a. a higher proportion of divorced parents with children plan to remarry
b. the intention to remarry increases with age
c. the proportion of divorced people stating that they intended to remarry decreased between 1990 and 2006
d. people who have divorced multiple times are more likely to want to remarry

Answer 8

the proportion of divorced people stating that they intended to remarry decreased between 1990 and 2006

Question 9

Which of the following best describes stepfamilies?

a. parents in stepfamilies tend to be younger
b. parents in stepfamilies are less likely to be in a common-law union than to be married
c. parents in stepfamilies identify fewer financial concerns than parents in non-stepfamilies
d. no significant difference exists between the family income of parents in stepfamilies and those in non-stepfamilies

Answer 9

b. parents in stepfamilies are less likely to be in a common-law union than to be married

Question 10

How do remarriage families differ from nuclear families?

a. Remarriage families are limited by norms and expectations.
b. Remarriage families have a less complex structure.
c. Remarriage families have few norms to guide their formation.
d. Remarriage families are less likely to end in divorce.

Answer 10

Remarriage families have few norms to guide their formation.

Question 11

Which of the following is a stage in establishing a second marriage?

a. deciding if it is true love
b. prolonged courtship
c. overcoming the previous relationship
d. forming the remarriage family

Answer 11

forming the remarriage family

Question 12

Before people can enter a new marriage emotionally, what do they need to do?

a. focus their anger on their ex-spouse
b. mimic a first-marriage family
c. draw tight boundaries around the new relationship
d. achieve an emotional divorce from their earlier union

Answer 12

achieve an emotional divorce from their earlier union

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of planning the remarriage?

a. The new partners need to cut off all ties with the ex-spouse’s family.
b. Spouses need to accept that difficulties will not be solved overnight.
c. Children need to stay connected with the ex-spouse’s family.
d. The relationship with the ex-spouse over child support needs to be maintained.

Answer 13

The new partners need to cut off all ties with the ex-spouse’s family.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of forming the new family?

a. Boundaries and roles need to be renegotiated.
b. Spouses need to accept that difficulties will not be solved overnight.
c. Children need to stay connected with the ex-spouse’s family.
d. The relationship with the ex-spouse over child support needs to be maintained.

Answer 14

Boundaries and roles need to be renegotiated.

Question 15

How do boundaries differ between first marriages and remarriages?

a. They need to be more permeable in first-marriage families.
b. They must be more permeable in remarriages.
c. They are well defined in stepfamilies.
d. First-marriage families experience greater boundary ambiguity.

Answer 15

They must be more permeable in remarriages.

Question 16

Why might remarriage families have boundary problems?

a. Children may belong to two families.
b. Such families keep their boundaries permeable.
c. Remarriage families try to establish their own stable lifestyle.
d. Children reject the nonresidential parent.

Answer 16

Children may belong to two families.

Question 17

What happens if stepfamilies respond to boundary ambiguity by trying to become as much like a first-marriage family as possible?

a. They are realistically trying to follow social scripts.
b. They are using the most workable solution to visiting.
c. Children will feel less confusion about their roles.
d. It may throw children into a conflict of loyalties.

Answer 17

It may throw children into a conflict of loyalties.

Question 18

In general, what is the most workable approach to ambiguity in stepfamilies?

a. to cut children off from their nonresidential parent
b. to reduce visits from nonresident children to a minimum
c. to keep boundaries permeable
d. to establish permanent family roles

Answer 18

to keep boundaries permeable

Question 19

What is one of the main difficulties in remarriage families?

a. There are too many candidates for available family roles.
b. The stepmother role is too rigid for most families.
c. There is insufficient role strain for a healthy family.
d. There is not enough role flexibility.

Answer 19

There are too many candidates for available family roles.

Question 20

Which of the following factors makes it difficult for children to understand stepfamily relationships?

a. Most stepfamilies are formed after one parent dies and the other remarries.
b. There is a lack of appropriate terms to describe these relationships.
c. Most children in stepfamilies are too young to understand complex relationships.
d. Boundaries between households are too permeable and lack structure.

Answer 20

There is a lack of appropriate terms to describe these relationships.