An on-line program as support resource for stepfamilies

Abstract

Spanish society is currently made up of a large diversity of family models. Among them are stepfamilies. These are becoming more and more common, as a result of the increase in divorces in the last decades in Spain. One of the main characteristics of these families is the difficulty to achieve cohesion among their members and to avoid the occurrence of a new rupture. This is due, among other factors, to the complexity of its structure, to the idiosyncrasies of the new relationships it brings (for example, between stepparents and stepchildren, or between half-brothers), and also to the lack of knowledge that society has regarding these families and how they can develop positive dynamics. Consequently, it is necessary to promote actions that help them achieve stability and permanence. The Recommendation on policies to support positive parenting (The Council of Europe Recommendation, Rec, 2006) emphasizes the need to provide psycho-educational resources to families. This support can be applied in person, or also through web resources included within the concept of e-parenting. The objective of this communication is to present the main features of a module of a program based on new information technologies for guidance and family intervention, aimed at stepfamilies. The program is based on the methodology of experiential learning, where participants access the program in a flexible way, according to their own temporal availability. The module consists of two sessions, which include different activities, whose content is related to everyday situations of family life that are highly representative of stepfamilies.