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PartOne:Culturalbackgroundofthefamilycrisis
2.Single-parentfamilies,18sometimescalledmono-parentalfamiliesinthe
subjectliterature;19and
3.Friendshiprelationships,inwhichacoupleofanysexlivesunderacommon
roofandleadsacommonhousehold,whereasnointimate,sexualrelation-
shipsarepresenthere.20
Wedistinguishalsootherformsofpartnerrelationshipswhichrarelyhave
aformofmarriage,butassuchtheydonotexcludemarriage.Teyarealsoan
evidenceforatransformationofthetraditionalfamily/homogeneousmarriage
intoheterogeneousforms:
1.LAT,livingaparttogether,intheformofavisitmarriageoravisit
cohabitation;21
2.Homosexualrelationships;
3.Reconstructedfamilies;and
4.Voluntarychildless(childfree)pairs.
Aformoffamilylifewhichisfrequentinthedaysofthemoreandmore
populardivorceis,inparticular,thereconstructedfamily(theso-calledpatch-
workfamily).Newrelationships,establishedaferthefailureofthefirstorsub-
sequentmarriages,arecharacterisedbyevengreaterfragility22thantheprevious
ones.Whiledivorcedpeoplehavehighlypositiveexpectationsabouttheirnew
relationship,theirchildrenunderstandthenewfamilystructureinacompletely
diferentway.AsnotedbyPaulR.Armato,theemergenceofnewrelations,
whichispositivelyperceivedbyparents,isnotsoenthusiasticallyviewedbytheir
children.Itissimplyhighlystressfulforchildren,asitisofenconnectedwith
achangeoftheirenvironment(neighbourhood,town,orcity),theneedtogetac-
customedtonewpeopleintheirhousehold,andtheemergenceofnewrulesand
rituals.23Moreover,“earlyrelationshipsbetweenstepparentsandstepchildrenare
ofentense.Children,especiallyadolescents,becomeaccustomedtoasubstantial
degreeofautonomyinsingle-parenthouseholds.Teymayresentthemonitor-
ingandsupervisionbystepparentsandreactwithhostilitywhenstepparents
attempttoexertauthority.Somechildrenexperienceloyaltyconflictsandfear
thatbecomingemotionallyclosetoastepparentimpliesbetrayingthenon-resi-
dentbiologicalparent.Somebecomejealousbecausetheymustshareparental
18SeeD.Eitle:“Parentalgender…,”p.727.
19K.Slany:Alternatywneformyżyciamałżeńsko-rodzinnegowponowoczesnymświecie.
Kraków2006,p.84.
20T.Szlendak:Socjologiarodziny…,p.503.
21Ibidem,p.504.
22AsnotedbyAnthonyGiddens,remarriages,atleastinstatisticalterms,arelesshappy
thanfirstmarriages-theydemonstrateahigherdivorcerate.SeeA.Giddens:Sociology.Camb-
ridge2001,chapter7.
23P.R.Amato:“Teimpactoffamilyformationchangeonthecognitive,social,andemotio-
nalwell-beingofthenext-generation.”TeFutureofChildren15/2(2005),p.80.
