Synonyms
Second Marriage; Stepfamilies
Introduction
Remarriage is a matrimonial relationship in which at least one partner was previously married. Up until the mid-1900s, the most common precursor to remarriage was the death of a spouse. With increased life spans and personal choice within relationships, remarriage after a divorce has replaced it as the most common pathway to remarriage. Despite general declines in the rate of marriage overall, many couples are still remarrying. It is estimated that four in ten couples who marry have at least one partner who is entering a remarriage. A common thread in the remarriage literature is the lack of guidelines and cultural expectations that exist when trying to negotiate the complexity of relationships that are formed between remarried families, especially when children are involved. This lack of guidance and direction led one researcher to originally refer to remarriage as an incomplete institution (Cherlin 1978). While a considerable...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Afifi, T. D. (2008). Communication in stepfamilies: Stressors and resilience. In J. Pryor (Ed.), The international handbook of stepfamilies: Policy and practice in legal, research, and clinical environments (pp. 299–320). Hoboken: Wiley.
Ahrons, C. (1994). The good divorce. New York: Harper Collins.
Amato, P. R. (1987). Family processes in one-parent, stepparent, and intact families: The child’s point of view. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 327–337.
Bray, J. H., & Berger, S. H. (1993). Developmental issues in stepfamilies research project: Family relationships and parent-child interactions. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 19, 197–220.
Brimhall, A. S., & Engblom-Deglmann, M. L. (2011). Starting over: A tentative theory exploring the effects of past relationships on postbereavement remarried couples. Family Process, 50(1), 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01345.x.
Brimhall, A., Wampler, K., & Kimball, T. (2008). Learning from the past, altering the future: A tentative theory of the effect of past relationships on couples who remarry. Family Process, 47(3), 373–387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00259.x.
Brown, S. M., & Porter, J. (2013). The effects of religion on remarriage among American women: Evidence from the national survey of family growth. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 54(2), 142–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2012.755056.
Cherlin, A. (1978). Remarriage as an incomplete institution. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 634–650.
Cherlin, A. J. (2004). The deinstitutionalization of American marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(4), 848–861. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00058.x.
Coleman, M., Ganong, L., & Fine, M. (2000). Reinvestigating remarriage: Another decade of progress. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1288–1307.
Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (2004). Stepfamily relationships: Development, dynamics, and interventions. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Hetherington, E. M., & Kelly, J. (2002). For better or for worse: Divorce reconsidered (1st ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.
Marsiglio, W. (2004). When stepfathers claim stepchildren: A conceptual analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 22–39.
Pasley, K., Dollahite, D. C., & Ihinger-Tallman, M. (1993). Bridging the gap: Clinical applications of research findings on the spouse and stepparent roles in remarriage. Family Relations, 42(3), 315–322.
Sweeney, M. M. (2010). Remarriage and stepfamilies: Strategic sites for family scholarship in the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 667–684. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00724.x.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Brimhall, A.S., Chizk, G.A. (2019). Remarriage in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_481
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_481
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49423-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49425-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences