Abstract

TOME, Graciella Leus  and  SCHERMANN, Lígia. Stepfather, the new father: a new fatherhood. Aletheia [online]. 2004, n.19, pp. 21-30. ISSN 1413-0394.

This study had the purpose of learning how the fatherhood sentiment and development of an affective tie between a stepfather and his non-biologic daughter occurred in a reconstituted family. It was attempted to understand the inner motivations and feelings that led the stepfather to establish these familial relations. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with three participants with the purpose of collecting life history data from the subjects and understand how the bond with the new family took place. Also, five pictures of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) were applied, allowing to understand the subjetive elements of stepfathers and his perception of the social support received. The interview data were subjected to analysis of content. It was possible, through the reports, to find that the three stepfathers initially established an affective tie with their wives and only later connect ed emotionally with their stepdaughters and shared financial and moral concerns with respect to their non-biologic daughter. The latent content, expressed through the TAT, showed, in general, that the participants had troubled relations with their own fathers, turning out to be insecure, passive and depressive. The PSSS partially confirmed the results of the interview and the TAT.

Keywords : Stepfather; Non-biologic daughter; Fatherhood; Affective tie.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )