Mary W. Fouts

Publication Date

1966

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Sie, Georgiana W.||Rockwood, Catherine

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Home Economics

LCSH

Parent and child; Stepchildren; Stepmothers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to see if a negative stereotype image of a stepparent existed in the junior high and the high school age group. If it did exist, was it affected by the age of the group, junior high or high school; the sex of the student and the stepparent; the age the student acquired the stepparent; the reason for the natural parents' separation.; and the presence or absence of half or stepsiblings. The study was limited to 590 students from two rural communities in northern Illinois; 48 of these were stepchildren. A personal data sheet was designed to obtain background material about the student. The second part of the survey was a check list, composed of forty statements, twenty positive, and twenty negative, concerning ten parent-child problem areas. The student indicated his choice as to how often a mother, stepmother, father, or stepfather would make each statement as either: R, rarely; S, sometimes; or O, often. An analysis of this data showed the deviation from the neutral position was small, but a definite pattern of reactions did exist. A negative attitude toward stepparents was indicated. A negative attitude was found to be slightly higher among the following groups: in junior high; students without stepparents; those whose parents were separated by death; and those who had no half-or step-siblings. There was no consistent pattern between the sex of the child and the parent. The stepmother, however, received more negative responses than the other parents. A pattern that did exist throughout the entire subjects was a negative attitude toward the stepmother and the natural father. This was not found to be true in cases of the natural mother and the stepfather. Even though a definite pattern could be seen by the results, further studies need to be conducted before conclusive statements can be made.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

ix, 50 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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