The Stepmother-Stepchild Dyad: Narratives in the Remarriage Context

Abstract The present study is part of a wider research about conjugality and parenthood in remarriage and aims to investigate the perception of stepmothers about their relationship with their stepchildren. For that, a qualitative research was carried out, in which 16 stepmothers of the middle socioeconomic segment, aged 28 and 43 years, were interviewed. The results were analyzed according to the content analysis method in its categorical aspect. Six categories of analysis emerged from the material. In order to achieve the objectives formulated in this study, the category stepmother-stepchild dyad, divided into two subcategories: bonding with the stepchildren and participation in education will be discussed. It was observed that the relationship between the stepmother and her stepchildren, besides being built gradually, is crossed by the father and the mother who authorizes or shies away the bond between the stepmother-stepchild dyad.