Blended Families Research Articles

Cambodian Remarried Women Are at Risk for Domestic Violence.

Divorce rates continue to rise, especially in urban centers, which in turn contributes to increasing numbers of women who remarry. While remarriage is one of the only options for survival for divorced women, especially those from low socioeconomic status, remarriage also brings with it increased stressors of financial strain and the strain of blended families. This study tested the hypothesis that remarried women compared with first-time married and divorced women are at increased risk for domestic violence. The sample was drawn from the Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey, consisting of 1,560 women with the average age of 31.64. Results showed that 20% of women reported emotional violence and 14%, physical violence. Based on hierarchical multiple regressions, this study found that remarried women were more likely to experience physical and emotional abuse than women in their first marriage or women who remain divorced/not in union. Further interaction analyses showed that domestic violence varies depending on place of residence, number of children younger than 5 years, partners' education, and wealth index. Rural residents who were in poorest and poorer groups and urban residents in their poorer and middle groups of their wealth index showed high risk of domestic violence. Remarried women with two or three children younger than 5 years showed highest risk of domestic violence. Additional three-way interaction analysis revealed that remarried women residing in rural/urban areas with a spouse having no education and/or primary level of education were at highest risk of domestic violence. The study lends support to the structural role of the power of male dominance on women's social and emotional well-being. This study suggested that to reduce men's perceived domination, structural intervention that includes implementing gender-responsive curriculum in formal education, as well as strengthening domestic violence law enforcement would help reduce domestic violence against women.

The Blended Family Life Cycle

ABSTRACTBlended families face unique challenges that differ greatly from those encountered by nuclear families. Societal stereotypes that view blended families as abnormal, taking nuclear family functioning as the prototype for all family units, create a lack of role clarity for each of the members involved. Although many strategies exist with which to help families, many are based on nuclear family systems and thus are inapplicable to blended families. The creation of a blended family life cycle specific to blended family systems could help members of a blended family create a successful family unit as they work with a counselor.

Doing and Displaying Gendered Boundary Work among Blended Families in Israel

This article seeks to introduce a more complex understanding of family change in Israel, through the case study of Israeli blended families. Going beyond the research on blended families in Israel and elsewhere, we wish to focus our analysis on how blended families are displayed in contemporary Israeli society. The analytical stress on displaying enables us to discern the fluidity and creativity in contemporary family life in Israel, as well as the boundary work through which family members present their family, to themselves and to other audiences. By analyzing data from over 40 in-depth interviews with parents who formed a blended family unit, we argue that family members embody a fuzzy mindset, which does not confine to a state of either/or, and at the same time negotiates traditional nuclear models of the “natural” family inherent in Israeli society.

Grievable lives: avatars, memorials, and family ‘plots’ in Second Life

Based on fieldwork within the virtual social world Second Life, this paper focuses on its Second Afterlife Cemetery, promoting itself as the first ‘bury your avatar site’. Avatars are symbolically buried and memorialised on this site and so too are the real-life biological deaths of people who may or may not have corresponding Second Life avatar lives and histories. Second Life is a place in which diverse forms of family relationships are created through role-play within games or through other processes such as Second Life adoption agencies and classified advertisements where residents seek out others to enter into family role-play relationships. Second Life role-play families are sometimes inclusive of real-life biological family members so that a type of blended family emerges also inclusive of non-biological Second Life role-play family members. Second Life is thus a place in which complex digital kinship systems operate, informing its bereavement and memorial culture. In examining the complexity of gender structure, relationships and family ‘plots’ of memorials, this paper argues that a biological death in real life while deceasing a second life does not amount to the loss of one life. Second lives are partially independent of the life behind the screen and may indeed challenge the assumption that the corporeal, ontological gravitas of physical real-world existence is the only way of life that really matters for grieving and remembrance. The activity of memorialising a second life based on avatar sociality and embodiment, acknowledges and gives value to a computer-mediated, screen-based way of life with its particular formations of identity and practices of relationship. It can be independent socially of real-life relationships and mourned on its own terms for what it meant to others in this avatar-embodied world.

‘I’ll sue you if you publish my wife’s interview’: ethical dilemmas in qualitative research based on life stories

This article addresses ethical dilemmas linked to using in-depth interviews while researching blended families in Israel, mainly during the analysis phase and while getting interviewees’ final written approval, prior to publication. Amongst the dilemmas presented are: should we publish statements that we thought might harm the interviewee even though we got their approval? Or those including pejorative statements on members of the interviewee’s extended family who weren’t asked for consent as they weren’t interviewed? We bring several types of changes our interviewees requested and demonstrate how we responded, not always successfully. Finally, we re-think dilemmas related to the complex issues of confidentiality and consent and raise questions – still open – these dilemmas generate. We discuss our own frustrations vis-à-vis the power vested with our interviewees that might affect the quality of any research when too many requests for substantial changes are done as a precondition for a written approval.

A Qualitative Analysis of Difficulties on Transition Days in Blended Families

The current qualitative research study focused on the difficulties experienced by individuals in stepfamilies or blended families on transition days. A transition day is the day a child prepares to leave one custodial home and go to another, or vice-versa. Parents in various stages of stepfamily development and varying demographics were interviewed regarding transition day. The theme “difficulties” emerged throughout the coding process. Difficulties were further broken down into subthemes: difficulty and disconnect, difficulty and age of children, and difficulty and different households. Through a more in-depth understanding of transition days in stepfamilies, immediate assistance may be provided to families who are in various stages of stepfamily/blended family formation. Lastly, advice for current stepfamilies and future stepfamilies is discussed.

Family structure and childhood mental disorders: new findings from Australia.

Many children now live in non-traditional families-including one-parent, blended, and step families. While a substantial body of international evidence indicates that these children display poorer cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes than children living in traditional families, research on childhood mental disorders is scarce. This report provides new evidence of the relationships between family structure and childhood mental disorders in an under-researched context, Australia. We use recent, nationally representative data on children aged 4-17 from Young Minds Matter, the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Well-being (N=6310). Mental disorders were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Version IV and included social phobia, separation anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. Compared to children living in original families, children in one-parent, blended, and step families experienced a higher prevalence of mental disorders. Amongst children whose parents separated, the time since separation was not statistically significantly related to the prevalence of mental disorders. Although we are unable to assess causality, our findings highlight the strength of the association between family structure and child and adolescent mental health. They also stress the need for programs to support children, parents, and families in non-traditional family types to reduce mentalhealth inequalities in childhood and later life.

Envy in Relationships Between Maternal Dyads

Family forms such as foster, adoptive, and blended families where there may be two maternal figures are increasingly common. The relationship between the two women is complex, and it is argued that envy is an affect that may be present yet difficult to acknowledge and work through. Envy is a powerful and painful emotion that can override feelings of compassion, love, and gratitude. Consequently, because envy blocks emotions such as gratitude and generosity, while it is in play, the formation of cooperative relationships between the women are inhibited with potentially deleterious consequences for the family. This article explores contemporary understandings of envy, its potential sources and effects, and implications for counselling and therapy, so that women can be supported to negotiate these relationships if and when they encounter conflict.

Effectiveness of External Electric Field Treatment of Conjugated Polymers in Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells.

External electric field treatment (EFT) on P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices was recently found to be a viable approach for improving the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) through modulating the blend nanomorphology. However, its effectiveness over the broad family of polymer-fullerene blends remains unclear. Herein, we investigate the effects of external EFT on various polymer-fullerene blends with distinct morphologies stemming from the difference in molecular structure of the polymers (i.e., semicrystalline vs amorphous) in a bid to establish a clear morphology-function-charge dynamics relationship to the photovoltaic performance. Our findings reveal that EFT promotes self-organization of the semicrystalline thiophene-based conjugated polymers (i.e., P3HT and P3BT) while it was ineffective for the amorphous polymers (i.e., PTB7 and PCPDTBT) even at the maximum applied E-field of 8 kV cm-1. Transient absorption spectroscopy shows an improvement in the initial charge-carrier and polaron formation from delocalized excitons in the E-field treated semicrystalline blends compared to their untreated reference samples. Interfacial trap-assisted monomolecular and trap-free bimolecular recombination at nanosecond-microsecond time scale in the E-field treated P3BT:PC60BM devices are significantly suppressed. Importantly, our findings shed new light and provide guidelines on the effectiveness of utilizing external EFT to enhance the PCEs of a larger family of conjugated polymer-based BHJ OSCs.

Stepfamilies in Early Modern Europe: Paths of Historical Inquiry

AbstractMany of the circumstances of the early modern stepfamily after remarriage by a widowed parent elude us. In historiography on the early modern family, widowhood, mothers' roles as guardians and the opportunities to remain widowed or to remarry have been well studied, but the consequences of a remarriage have not. When historical information emerges on the stepfamily in the European past, it is often more by accident through the study of widowhood, remarriage or inheritance practices than by design. But the stepfamily was a common family form experienced by many in early modern Europe and precisely because stepfamilies were ever‐present they feature intermittently in the works of leading historians. These complex families of stepbrothers and stepsisters, half‐brothers or half‐sisters deserve to be the focus of attention. This article suggests paths of inquiry into stepfamilies and blended families in Europe from the 1400s to 1700s, from considering the famously wicked reputation of the stepmother to seeking out the little known stepfather. The essay also explores questions about the residence of children of the first marriage and subsequent unions as well as the relationships between stepsiblings and half‐siblings.

Grandparent education for assisted living facilities

ABSTRACTThe assisted living population is forecast to increase at a rapid rate. Quality of life for residents should be improved by giving greater attention to their cognitive, emotional, and social needs. A university lifespan development team provided a grandparent education course at a large assisted living facility with the assistance of 20 resident volunteers (ages 77–91). The volunteers were trained to guide small classes. Scheduling allowed participants to attend 90-minute sessions; average weekly attendance was 65 residents. Cooperative learning principles were introduced to govern the processes used for class instruction and ensure mental stimulation. The guidebook lessons included grandparents giving and seeking advice, understanding child and adolescent development, goals and expectations of modern families, recognizing parent success, managing family conflicts, learning in later life, drugs and sex, living in single and blended families, and the influence of media and technology. Participants also volunteered as teacher assistants in elementary schools because they wanted to help children and better understand changes taking place in schools. Most participants reported that the major benefits were developing a supportive social network in the facility and acquiring group communication skills. Performance on the Teamwork Skills Inventory confirmed learning in the social context. The year-long program demonstrated that people in the oldest age group can benefit from a cost-free strategy for education about family development.

Familias difusas y confusas: visibilidad y reconocimiento en las nuevas formas de parentalidad

This paper is a contribution to the study of new ways of parenting as they question the hegemony of nuclear family as a reference model in Western societies. In order to understand the construction of motherhood, fatherhood and the arrival of other kind of significant parental figures, our proposal shows five scenarios whose analysis may be of interest to the visibility and recognition of these emerging figures: 1) blended families, 2) transnational families, 3) adoption, 4) same-sex parenting, and 5) coparenting after divorce.

Comparison of Airfoil Precomputational Analysis Methods for Optimization of Wind Turbine Blades

The objective of this research was to develop and compare various airfoil precomputational parameterization and analysis techniques for aerostructural optimization of wind turbine blades. The airfoils along the blade were added as optimization design variables through precomputational parameterization methods using thickness-to-chord ratios and blended airfoil family factors. The airfoils’ aerodynamic performance was analyzed with three methods of increasing fidelity: a panel method (XFOIL), Navier–Stokes-based computational fluid dynamics (RANS CFD), and wind tunnel data. The optimizations minimized mass over annual energy production ( $m/AEP$ ) and thereby approximated the minimization of cost of energy. The results were compared to the NREL 5-MW reference turbine and a conventional optimization where the airfoils were fixed. Results showed an average $m/AEP$ reduction of 1.7% over conventional optimization methods. The primary benefit in adding the airfoil shape was through an increase in annual energy production (1.6%) with a similar decrease in turbine mass (1.8%). Using the precomputational airfoil parameterization methods provided significant reductions in the cost of energy with relatively minor additional computational cost.

A Dowry, Will, and Blended Family of Calvin’s Geneva Put Anne Colladon, to the Test

Abstract Anne Colladon, widow of Laurent de Normandie, financier of the mid-sixteenth century Genevan book trade, grappled with Laurent’s first wife’s estate and her adult stepsons’ claims on her estate. This case study of a famous family of French origin reveals complexities of early-modern systems of dowries and wills and problems for a second wife and her daughter. Normandie was a great hero of the Reformation because of his financing of Calvin’s publications and his dispatching of colporteurs carrying Bibles, catechisms, and Psalters into France. Anne was from a prominent family that fled France for Geneva (1550). She was an astute business woman and seemingly responsible mother but she inherited a complex situation after Normandie’s untimely death of the plague in 1569. She was left with financial problems and two stepsons in a blended family that included three children she had conceived with Laurent. It was not an easy mix.

Effect of Hot Drawing on the Mechanical Properties of Biodegradable Fibers

The use of biodegradable polymers is increasingly attracting interest over the last years, since they can reduce the environmental effects related to disposal of traditional plastics and, in general, the use of fossil, non-renewable resources. One of the most promising applications is represented by fibers production. However, the orientation and the crystallinity degrees can significantly affect the mechanical properties. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate on the optimum processing conditions, in order to improve the mechanical properties. In particular, while crystallinity can be slightly modified by the processing, orientation can be significantly improved. In this work, the effects of hot stretching on the mechanical and structural properties of fibers made from two different families of biodegradable blends were investigated. The orientation proved to significantly change the mechanical properties, and it was shown that factors such as the different relaxation times, the different crystallization temperatures and the cooling rate can give opposite effects in the three investigated polymer systems with significant consequences on the mechanical behaviour of the fibers. In particular, the behaviour during fiber production in hot stretching, and the orientation mechanisms were studied and explained on the basis of rheological and thermal properties of the polymers.

Transition Daze: A Qualitative Analysis of Transition Days in Blended Families

The current research enhances the understanding of transition day for researchers and clinicians who focus on marriage and family issues. A qualitative study involving 13 members (parents) of various stages of stepfamily development and demographics, is assessed. Interviews included questions for parents in a blended family and focused transitional day specific questions. By gaining a more in-depth understanding of transitional days in stepfamilies, immediate assistance may be provided to families who encounter difficulties during various stages of stepfamily/blended family formation. Useful approaches for current stepfamilies and future stepfamilies are discussed. Lastly, a new term is coined by the authors: “Transition Daze”.

The New People: Reading for Peoplehood in Métis Literatures

The New PeopleReading for Peoplehood in Métis Literatures Jennifer Adese (bio) While I was heavily involved in the Niagara Native community throughout my teenage years I had little sense of myself as Métis. I was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent the first few years of my life in a small town called Squamish, north of North Vancouver. My parents met at a party in the apartment building they both lived in in North Vancouver, and after marrying, they relocated to Squamish with their blended family. Neither of them was originally from the area. My dad moved to BC in the early 1970s from his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, after a stint in the Royal Canadian Navy and took up working for the railway. My mother also moved to BC in the early 1970s from her hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario, where she had been born and adopted into an English Mennonite family. She traveled to BC at the invitation of her then-boyfriend, an architect, bringing with her her two children from her first marriage. My parents were not married long, and I was just over two years old when my father died. Shrouded in a veil of grief and despair, my mother did the only thing she could clearly think to do: she returned to her hometown with her children in tow and drew on the support of her family. Having been raised in St. Catharines meant that in many ways it was my home. Yet I was always keenly aware that I was not “from” there. My mother, as an adopted person, in spite of strong ties with her adoptive family, lacked a strong sense of connection to her hometown. In the absence of knowledge about her own birth family and history, she felt that it was important to provide me with as much connection to where I was born, and to my father’s family in Alberta, as she feasibly could so that I could grow up “knowing” who I was. My childhood sense of identity was therefore built by decoupage through the accumulation of [End Page 53] fragments of information from my mom. It was supplemented by fleeting contact with my grandma during her calls, letters, and visits from Edmonton to St. Catharines and numerous faded photographs of a life I had briefly been a part of yet could not remember. What stood out to me then, as it does now, is that words like “Cree” and “French” entered my vocabulary fairly early on as my mother sought to tell me “what” I was and as my grandma, when prodded, offered words like “breed” and “Scotch.” As I reached my early teenage years, I was drawn into programming at my high school for urban Native kids. Through my school’s Native Circle initiative and my growing connection with the wider urban Native community, my identity as a Native person crystallized, and other Native people around me encouraged me to identify myself as “Native” rather than continually referring to myself as “part Cree.” I had been so used to referring to myself in parts that it was a relief to begin to see myself as whole and, truly, as complete, and I took this rearticulated sense of myself very seriously. I remember the first time a well-meaning non-Native friend suggested that I read a book by a woman often referred to as a “Métis author,” a writer named Maria Campbell. When I looked at the book jacket and saw the title Halfbreed, I scoffed, “Why would I want to read that? I’m not Métis or half-anything, I’m Native!” In the wake of the formation of my identity as Native, I rebuked outsiders’ attempts to link myself to Campbell and her work for two reasons. First, I saw myself as a “whole” Native person, and that way of seeing myself was nurtured by the other members of the Native community around me. I struggled to assert this “whole” identity—meaning a way of understanding and expressing myself in mind, body, and spirit as a person who is marked by my completeness, not by a sense...

Tipología familiar y dinámica bullying/ciberbullying en Educación Secundaria

Las situaciones de bullying y ciberbullying son, tristemente, acontecimientos cada vez más presentes en la comunidad escolar, especialmente favorecidas, en el caso del ciberbullying, por el gran auge de las redes sociales que se está produciendo en nuestra sociedad. Los factores que intentan explicar estas situaciones de violencia entre iguales han puesto en evidencia aspectos de los individuos involucrados en ellas, pero no debemos olvidar otras variables que, como la tipología familiar, son fundamentales en esta etapa del ciclo vital y por tanto, pueden jugar también un papel importante. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar si la pertenencia a algunos de los diferentes grupos familiares existentes en nuestra sociedad podía relacionarse con la incidencia de situaciones de bullying y de ciberbullying. Los participantes fueron 1.684 alumnos pertenecientes a 22 centros de Secundaria (IES e IESO) de la Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura siendo el 50.9% de la muestra mujeres y el 49.1% varones. Los resultados obtenidos permiten afirmar que, existen más víctimas y agresores/as entre familias no nucleares (familias monoparentales, familias reconstituidas, crianza por parte de los abuelos,…) que entre familias nucleares, sin embargo esta relación no se ha encontrado entre los observadores.

Consenting Adults: Making Sex Safer for Senior Residents

Consenting Adults: Making Sex Safer for Senior Residents

Supporting Blended Families to Remain Intact: A Case Study

More than 40% of U.S. adults have at least one step-relative in their family. Whereas there is much research on providing support for ex-partners and their children, there has been a lesser focus on trying to keep newly blended families intact. Because many members of a failed relationship repartner and have children from these new relationships, we find there is a need to provide support for stepfamilies. The Survival Strategies Workshop provides advice on strategies for blended families. In this article, we illustrate, through the use of case studies, that most of the problems occurring in blended families are not unique and if appropriate strategies are followed the prospect of a happy future is greatly enhanced.