This book is a pathbreaking longitudinal study that provides in-depth information about the lives of middle class second-marriage couples. Focusing on marital happiness, husband-wife equality, dual career problems, and children, the author followed 156 couples for three to four years, interviewing both spouses and analyzing the data according to the joint marital history of the couple. In addition to examining how children adapt to remarriage, this provocative study outlines early warning signs of impending marital trouble, discusses the chances for people over thirty and of those previously divorced to have happy marriages, and explores the common problems faced by remarried persons.
Focusing on the kinds of networks that most adequately meet adolescent needs, Stinson conducts thirty in-depth interviews with adolescents and their custodial parents. She divides interviews evenly between those living with biological parents, with divorced mother, and with mother and stepfather. Empirical results are applied to guiding questions: How are adolescent social support networks affected by parental divorce and remarriage? What are the impacts of network size and structure on adolescents' well-being? For researchers and practitioners in adolescent well-being, divorce, and remarriage counseling.
Family Transformation Through Divorce and Remarriage is the first book to look thoroughly at the complete divorce-remarriage-stepfamily cycle in the context of demographic data, the legal process and the theoretical framework. For each phase of the cycle, the author describes the stages of development, summarises the relevant research and illustrates the effects on family members with case examples.