Portrayed as evil and wicked, the poor old stepmother has never had a good reputation - in fairytales or real life.Click through for the rest of the article.
She's usually seen as mean and manipulative, determined to steal a father from his children and the creator of much conflict.
But one Auckland stepmother is hoping to change that with a project that will shed light on the difficulties the "evil stepmother" encounters in adapting to her new role.
Researcher Adrienne Bartle, who is doing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Auckland University, said the role of stepmother was one of the hardest within today's family unit - and yet there was little help available.
"When I became a stepmother, there was very, very limited - in fact almost no - resources at all, so I pretty much mucked and bumbled my way through, doing almost everything that was wrong."
Ms Bartle is interviewing 20 stepmothers and families to try to find out more about the areas of conflict and agreement, the quality of relationships and communication strategies used to work through problems.
She hopes her three-year research project, which is part of the ongoing Families in Transition study, will generate better insights into stepfamilies and what works in successful families.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Stepmothering research
From the Herald this morning:
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2 comments:
From the article: "She is often expected to assume a motherly-type role - helping to feed the children, dress them in the morning and take them to and from school - and yet she is not their mother."
This is so true in my experience as a stepmother for the last 8 years.
Trying to define my role in my husband's kid's lives was/is difficult. Anyway, I decided that I would be like a kind auntie. I help care for them, and love them, but I do not try and be their mum.
I read about some research that shows that a supportive/non-disciplinarian approach by step-parents works best for blended families. I mostly follow this, and we all seem to get along quite well.
"I read about some research that shows that a supportive/non-disciplinarian approach by step-parents works best for blended families."
This is an interesting insight which I hadn't considered before! I have always had quite a good relationship with my own stepmother and I think it does come down to this.
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