ABSTRACT
T H E R E H A S B E E N A growing consensus in the clinical and conceptual literatures that many of the challenges, opportunities, and issues facing members of stepfamilies revolve around the role of the stepparent (Crosbie-Burnett, 1989; Visher 8c Visher, 1996). One of the primary reasons why the stepparent role is so salient is that few societal norms provide guidelines for how stepparents should act toward their stepchildren (Cherlin, 1978). Nevertheless, relatively few empirical studies have examined stepfamily members' views of the role of the stepparent, how clear family members are in their views of the stepparent role, and the adjustment correlates of various aspects of stepparent role perceptions. In this chapter, we provide an overview of a programmatic line of inquiry into these dimensions of the stepparent role.
