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When you're not the Brady Bunch: Identifying perceived conflicts and resolution strategies in stepfamilies
Author(s) -
COLEMAN MARILYN,
FINE MARK A.,
GAG LAWRENCE H.,
DOWNS KIMBERLY J. M.,
PAUK NICOLE
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2001.tb00028.x
Subject(s) - stepfamily , negotiation , conflict resolution , loyalty , psychology , social psychology , guard (computer science) , resolution (logic) , qualitative analysis , family conflict , qualitative research , sociology , political science , computer science , law , artificial intelligence , programming language , social science
This study was a qualitative analysis of interviews from 58 members of 17 stepfamilies regarding the sources of conflict and conflict resolution strategies. The majority of conflicts resulted from negotiation of family boundaries and were manifested in the following ways: (a) disagreements over resources; (b) loyalty conflicts; (c) individuals holding a “guard and protect” ideology; and (d) conflict with extended family members Wide arrays of resolution strategies were used, and some, but not all, resulted in positive outcomes.