Abstract

AMARAL, Daniela Heitzmann  and  DIAS, Cristina Maria de Souza Brito. The sibling subsystem in remarried families. Aletheia [online]. 2011, n.34, pp.123-137. ISSN 1413-0394.

Remarriage has occurred quite frequently, mainly as a result of the number of separations and divorces. This research sought to understand the perception of the children before the changes in their lives due to the remarriage of one or both parents, especially concerning the fraternal subsystem. It is a qualitative research whose participants were four teenagers or young adults. They responded to an interview consisting of questions about siblings relationship and their socio-demographic data. Their answers to the interviews were analyzed based on the thematic content analysis. It can be concluded that in fraternities formed by biological siblings the changes were not significant, however, mixed fraternities, which are formed by political siblings (sons of his stepfather or stepmother with no biological ties) and half-siblings (brothers by part of the mother or father) required several re-adaptations.

Keywords : Remarriage; Sibling subsystem; Family interaction.