Over the past three decades, major transformations have taken place in the family world. Traditional nuclear families - mother, father and two children - are no longer the 'norm' (Francis, 2001). Nearly half of all marriages now end in divorce, and remarriages for one or both partners have more than doubled since the 1970s. According to Parentline Plus, over 2.5 million children live in stepfamilies. Learning to live within a new stepfamily structure can change the living patterns, self-confidence and emotional well being of all family members.

             The stepfamily has become a common type of household all around the world (The Watchtower, 1999). Yet, stepfamilies have unique problems. When a first marriage breaks up, the cause is often the immaturity of one or more of the spouses. In a second marriage, dealing with the children has the greatest impact on the relationship. Studies show that forty percent of stepfamilies end in divorce within the first five years.

             Many parents fail to recognize and deal with the emotional turmoil, the conflicts of loyalty, and the feelings of jealousy and resentment that the stepparent's presence raises in the stepchildren (The Watchtower, 1999). Some children feel that their new stepparent has stolen the attention of their mother or father from them. In other cases, a natural parent who was left by a mate may find it hard to understand the children's continued attachment to the former mate. For example, one child of divorce explained his good relationship with his biological father, saying, "Mom, I know Dad treated you badly, but he has been good to me!" This type of expression, while honest, may make a mother feel bitter resentment toward the child's father. One stepfather explained: "I was not really prepared to deal with all the problems related to bringing up my stepchildren. I went into the situation thinking that now that I had married their mother, I was their father.