Abstract
M. Ed. (Educational Psychology)
In the author's daily handling of clients at the Institute
for Child and Adult Guidance at the Rand Afrikaans
University she came to the startling realization of just how
many children are' either going through or have already gone
through the trauma of their parents' divorce and the
reconstitution of the family unit after their parent's
remarriage. The author believes that there are unique problems facing
today's child in the reconstituted family; so unique in
fact, that it may be viable to develop a parental guidance
program specifically for the reconstituted family.
To ascertain whether a parental guidance program
specifically for the reconstituted family is really
necessary and desirable, an attempt is made to provide
positive and qualitative answers to questions such as:
Do normal families really differ from reconstituted
families? If so, how and to what extent?
Are there major differences in the typical problems
facing the parents of the two types of family?
Are there major differences between the two family types
in "the way children perceive their parents?'
The author, therefore, endeavors to identify problem areas
in the reconstituted family by first of all studying
available literature in an attempt to define a normal
family; a reconstituted family; the functioning of a normal
family; relationships in the reconstituted family and
possible problems that may surface. In an empirical study
three practical case studies handled at the Institute of
Child and Adult Guidance are studied and an attempt is made
to isolate those problems that are unique to' the
reconstituted family...