The remarriage: The role of the stepmother and her relationship with her stepchildren

Abstract

When entering in a relationship in which the partner already has kids, it is common for the stepmother to express difficulties in establishing the role that she will play in this new family configuration. Thus, this qualitative research aimed to investigate about the role played by the stepmother in a remarried family and about her relation with her stepchildren. Therefore, six women that lived a stable relationship with a man that already had kids, who did not live with the couple, integrated this study. The data were collected through an identification data sheet and a semi-directed interview with open-ended questions, which were analyzed by a thematic content analysis. The results pointed out to the involvement and the attention of the participants, especially regarding to the care of the stepchildren, avoiding to interfere in disciplinary aspects. Besides, in the participants’ point of view, the fathers seemed to have taken on a passive attitude in the search for getting closer to their kids – stepmothers performed a positive influence to maintenance of parenthood. The final considerations mark the importance of flexibility in different family members as a strategy to facilitate the adaptation to the roles that will be developed. Keywords: remarriage, stepmother, family relations, stepchildren.