ABSTRACT
T.S.Eliot (1888-1965), ‘Little Gidding’ It is important to point out that there are problems and difficulties in the family life of every family, and that these also give both ‘challenge and promise’ (Wald 1981) to the development of stepfamily life. For many reasons (some perhaps related to the guilt about the beginning of their relationship as well as stepfamily folklore), the parents and stepparents in remarried families have a tendency to attribute any developmental difficulties to their being a stepfamily. This somewhat facile conclusion is often also drawn by others, not least those in the interventionist professions. At the time of writing (1989) there appears to be what amounts to a ‘moral panic’ regarding the future of marriage and the family (see Mount 1982 and others), and the first part of this chapter therefore attempts to draw together and highlight some of the more positive findings from academic and empirical research. Because the research and clinical findings are often somewhat at variance with one another, it is also important to realise that clinicians are apt to develop a somewhat skewed picture of the world because they draw their conclusions from the families who come to them seeking help for their
difficulties. Because the current position regarding joint custody and access gives a particularly confused picture, whether it is based on academic or clinical research, or the received wisdom of judicial decisions from the courts, these sections will attempt to present the situation as it at present appears to be. It is evident that more research is necessary, and especially collaborative research between academics and clinicians in this important field of family research.
