Cognitive remodeling of the family: how remarried people view stepfamilies

Responses of remarried individuals to a set of statements intended to elicit their views on stepfamilies point up the absence of a normative model of the stepfamily. The findings, analyzed separately for men and for women, are considered in terms of their application to clinical intervention with the remarried. Issues of child rearing are emphasized and the importance of making each individual's expectations of stepfamily life explicit is underscored.