Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living Case Study

Perceptions of Adjustment to Stepfamily Living - Case Study Example According to the paper the age of the child to be included will be limited from age thirteen to eighteen. This case study will help individuals, couples, and families determine how to meet stepfamily challenges through a clearer understanding of how their own perceptions are contingent upon particular outcomes. This study will additionally contribute to the fields of social science, psychology and family therapy by adding to the already existing body of knowledge on stepfamily functioning. Finally, such information would be particularly valuable to professionals in the field who can draw on the findings to assist them as they work with stepfamilies in their daily practice, and to understand the value of the utilization of the therapeutic process. This study declares that stepfamilies are becoming an increasingly more common type of family in almost all countries, especially in the UK and USA. Increasing parental separation over past decades means that approximately one million children under 18 years of age will experience the divorce of their parents. A large population pool for remarriages and the formation of stepfamilies is created by high divorce rates. Estimates project that 50-60 percent of couples in first marriages will separate. Research indicates that women (mothers) ordinarily re-partner within 3-5 years post-separation and men (fathers) typically re-partner within 1-2 years of separation, most of these include children from a prior marriage, and thus, stepfamilies are formed. While educational, social, and economic factors present unique barriers to stepfamilies, societal stereotyping is another major challenge that stepfamilies encounter. The negative stereotyping of stepfamilies may lead new members of stepfami lies to expect negative outcomes which can then increase the chance of family disharmony.