Stepfamily Relationships

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. Studying (and Understanding) Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 1-19

3. The Cultural Context of Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 21-36

4. Pathways to Stepfamily Living

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 37-60

5. Courtship in Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 61-83

6. Couple Dynamics in Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 85-110

7. Gay and Lesbian Couples in Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 111-124

8. The Dynamics of Parenting in Stepfamilies

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 125-142

9. The Dynamics of Stepparenting

   • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

   Pages 143-173

10. Effects of Stepfamily Living on Children

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 175-189

11. Siblings, Half-Siblings, and Stepsiblings

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 191-204

12. Grandparents and Stepgrandparents

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 205-230

13. Clinical Perspectives on Stepfamily Dynamics

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 231-258

14. Working with Stepfamilies

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 259-285

15. Next Steps

    • Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman

    Pages 287-292

16. Back Matter

    Pages 293-343

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This second edition synthesizes the emerging knowledge base on the diversity of stepfamilies, their inherent concerns, and why so relatively little is still known about them. Its extensive findings shed needed light on family arrangements relatively new to the literature (e.g., cohabitating stepparents), the effects of these relationships on different family members (e.g., stepsiblings, stepgrandparents), the experiences of gay and lesbian stepfamilies, and the stigma against non-nuclear families. Coverage reviews effective therapeutic and counseling interventions for emotional, familial, and social challenges of stepfamilies, as well as the merits of family education and self-help programs. The authors explore prevailing myths about marriage, divorce, and stepfamily life while expanding the limits of stepfamily research.

Among the topics included:
• The cultural context of stepfamilies.
• Couple dynamics in stepfamilies.
• Gay andlesbian couples in stepfamilies.   • The dynamics of stepparenting.   
• Siblings, half-siblings, and stepsiblings.    • Effects of stepfamily living on children.
• Clinical perspectives on stepfamily dynamics.


For researchers and clinicians who work with families, it enriches the literature as it offers insights and guidelines for effective practice as well as possible avenues for future research.

• Remarriage
• Stepfamilies
• Stepmothers
• Stepfathers
• Stepchildren
• Divorce
• Cohabitation
• Coparenting
• Remarriage
• Family structure diversity
• Stepfamily relationships

• University of Missouri , Columbia, USA

  Lawrence Ganong

• University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

  Marilyn Coleman

Lawrence Ganong and Marilyn Coleman have studied, taught, counseled, and mediated with stepfamilies and stepfamily members for over 30 years. They are prolific authors (7 books, over 200 journal articles), whose writing and thinking about stepfamilies have heavily influenced researchers and clinicians for many years. In their persistent use of a risk and resilience approach to studying stepfamily relationships, Ganong and Coleman have given the field many new ideas, such as “concrete babies,” “inherited stepgrandparents,” “mothering but not a mother role,” and the “end table phenomenon.” Their 2004 edition of this book was the most comprehensive examination of stepfamily relationships to that point in time, and this volume is even more wide-ranging.

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