Deck 4: Working With Single-Parent and Blended Families

Question 1

A formerly married person's ex-spouse, the ex-spouse's new husband or wife, and his or her blood kin are called ______.

A) kin once removed
B) new kin
C) new relatives
D) quasi kin

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Families that are created as a result of the death of a parent may experience three developmental stages: mourning, readujstment, and renewal and accomplishment.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Questions such as "Who are the real members of my family?" "What space is mine?" or "Where do I really belong?" are examples of what kind of challenges in blended families?

A) economic problems
B) resolution of feelings
C) boundary difficulties
D) establishment of a hierarchy
Questions

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In working with blended families, therapists should

A) be passive
B) be active
C) be legal advisors
D) be predictable

Question 5

The structure of most blended families initially includes

A) clear romantic and negative feelings
B) a weak couple subsystem
C) a unified parental subsystem
D) clear boundaries

Question 6

_____ can help blended families understand the differences between blended family and non-blended family systems and provide guidelines for handling typical situations.

A) education
B) choreography
C) genograms
D) projection

Question 7

Families that experience the temporary absence of a parent due to military deployment or other temporary circumstances are not considered to be "single-parent families."

Question 8

To help kids through the divorce process, it can be helpful to:

A) define and refine clear boundaries and roles
B) have diffuse boundaries and roles
C) have a more formal style of relating
D) have both parents tell the children about the divorce and let the children decide who's right and who's wrong

Question 9

Single-parent families tend to be more _____ than most family types.

A) autocratic
B) democratic
C) rigid
D) formal

Question 10

Bibliotherapy is a helpful means of working with single-parent families.

Question 11

An important step in developing new relationships in blended families is

A) giving up old loyalties to make space for new ties
B) setting up closed systems to maximize internal family strengths
C) encouraging projection
D) mourning the loss of previous relationships

Question 12

Healthy adjustment of children is strongly correlated with

A) pre-divorce/death levels of family functioning
B) mental and emotional anguish
C) taking sides
D) premarital counseling

Question 13

Children of divorce are _____ to divorce than others.

A) less likely
B) more likely
C) six times more likely
D) six times less likely

Question 14

Parentification of children can occur if families are enmeshed or do not successfully adjust to the new hierarchy following a family break-up.

Question 15

Which of the following is not a recommended educational or behavioral strategy that can help strengthen aspects of single-parent families?

A) helping family members maintain negative communication patterns
B) encouraging weekly family conferences to talk about concerns, resolve problems and plan for the future
C) linking family members to needed sources of social support (e.g., Parents Without Partners)
D) suggesting educational methods such as reading books and newsletters

Question 16

A major challenge for children in blended families is:

A) identifying common interests among new step siblings
B) establishing a new identity
C) losing one's ordinal position from a previous family experience
D) creativity and innovativeness

Question 17

Noncustodial parents do not have the same legal, parental rights as custodial parents.

Question 18

A large and rapidly growing segment of the population is

A) single-parent families formed through divorce
B) single-parent families formed through death
C) single-parent families formed through abandonment
D) single-parent families formed through choice

Question 19

Establishing a blended family

A) is a complex process
B) is a relatively short process (i.e., 1 to 2 years)
C) is easier than establishing a family in a first marriage
D) should be based on established guidelines to follow in coming together

Question 20

In the _____, families created by divorce began to exceed those created by death.

A) 1940s
B) 1950s
C) 1960s
D) 1970s

Question 21

In blended families, there are no accepted social roles for stepparents.

Question 22

Two thirds of marriages end in divorce within the first 10 years of marriage.

Question 23

In most blended families, family members have a realistic attitude concerning how to establish cohesion and trust among new family members.

Question 24

Most people who divorce eventually remarry.

Question 25

Working with families to arrange predictable and mutually satisfactory visitation arrangements is not an appropriate role for a family therapist.