Step-family formation is a process and is in no way an “instant family.” It is a system attempting to balance and bring two different systems together that will be able to work and communicate effectively and hopefully become a cohesive, new system. This is no small task; as some of you may know firsthand and/or someone you know. And yet this does not stop people from trying, actually, thousands of couples do every year. As our text pointed out, Dr. Cherlin, a sociologist, referred to remarried families as incomplete institutions lacking “cultural scripts” that provide guidelines of how to do … basically “family life.” Dr. Cherlin was not criticizing stepfamilies but noted that based on his research, there are a lot of gray areas when it comes to stepfamilies ( no set norms, rules, or roles), and this can lead to stress and tension. Let’s discuss it!
Assignment Description
After reading Chapter 15, consider and answer the following questions:
- Do you think Dr. Cherlin’s assertion that remarried/stepfamilies are an “incomplete institution” because they lack social scripts that would assist the family in coming together and assuming roles and responsibilities is still relevant and carries a measure of truth even decades after he made this observation and why?
- As you read over the chapter and review relevant course materials, underscore and discuss some of the main issues or challenges that stood out to you concerning stepfamily dynamics.
- When the chapter addressed stereotypes and stigmas, what is your perspective–what do you think shapes our views of step-families?
Moreover, based on what we learned from the chapter and even your own experiences and observations…
- What do you think would help stepfamilies as they form a new family system?
- Furthermore, what suggestions would you propose that would assist us as a society in helping stepfamilies? Do not hesitate to speak from personal experience.
Inclusion and application of our text particularly chapter 15 are expected within your contribution.
Submission Instructions
Submit your discussion posts using the reply arrow below. Be sure to share complete thoughts and examples, and answer the questions above in a way that promotes further discussion with each other. You can write personally in the first person and your posts are expected to be in essay/paragraph form.
Your original post must be submitted on the designated MONDAY in the course calendar by 11:59 PM EST.
The four response posts must be submitted no later than TUESDAY by 11:59 PM EST.
Peer Responses as always can be completed in several ways:
- Respond to another student’s post.
- Respond to a student who has provided feedback on your original post (which can lead to some thoughtful dialogue).
- Respond to another student’s comment.
As always remember to:
- Follow class discussion expectations as outlined.
- Integrate course material from the assigned chapter(s) reading to support and explain your views. The objective of these posts is for you to present an INFORMED opinion and demonstrate comprehension of the course material.
- Make sure you respond to all the questions posed in the prompt.
- DO NOT EDIT your work once you have submitted your work. This is to protect everyone’s work. Simply, post a reply to your original post if necessary.
- Use proper APA formatting when citing a source within your posts and providing a reference list. Failure to do so will result in a deduction. Whenever you have a formatting question, please see the post I created about APA formatting on our announcements page.
- Keep in mind: your original post to this prompt is worth up to 10 points and your 4 peer responses are worth up to 4 points. This makes the total points for this discussion worth 14 points.