Latina Women’s Experiences in a Stepfamily Education Course

Theoretical Perspective

This study was conducted from the perspective of multicultural feminist theory (Tong, 2009). One of the core assumptions of feminist theory is that women’s voices need to be heard and their experiences are real (Tuana & Tong, 1995). In addition to being concerned about the experiences of women as an oppressed gender, multicultural feminism is concerned with the “women-of-color feminism” (Tong, 2009, p. 202) in the United States. In the early 1900s, it was expected that people who came to this country as immigrants became Americanized, and everyone became assimilated into the new country. Multiculturalism, which began to be evident in both practice and scholarly literatures in the 1970s, however, focused on people being encouraged to maintain their ethnic pride. Multiculturalism promoted the view that diversity is to be valued and that all ethnic and cultural groups be respected and treated as equal (Fowers & Richardson, 1996). Multicultural feminism, therefore, is about making the voices of women from diverse ethnic cultures heard.

Feminism is also about making these voices heard within the context of families in order that we understand the totality of family life (Ingoldsby, Smith, & Miller, 2004). Historically, this view of families was from women in the traditional nuclear family but has recently expanded to include the variety of family forms in today’s society. This totality of family life includes all kinds of families including cohabiting families, single-parent families, and stepfamilies. Therefore, this study was conducted from the perspective of multiculturalism, focusing on Latina women and on the nontraditional family form of stepfamilies. This study is about making the voices and experiences of Latina women in stepfamilies heard.

Method

The current study includes a subsample of a larger demonstration project, which included an evaluation of the Smart Steps stepfamily education program (Higginbotham, n.d.). Several other publications have resulted from this project (i.e., Higginbotham & Myler, 2010; Higginbotham & Skogrand, 2010; Reck, Higginbotham, Skogrand, & Davis, 2012; Skogrand, Dansie, Higginbotham, Davis, & Barrios-Bell, 2011; Skogrand, Torres, & Higginbotham, 2010). The Smart Steps program (Adler-Baeder, 2007) is a research-based couple and relationship education curriculum and targeted low-income European American and Latino stepfamilies. This stepfamily education program was implemented in collaboration with community agencies who serve these populations. Participants received 12 hr of couple and relationship education through six 2-hr sessions offered in the evenings. The program content addressed the prevalence of stepfamilies in today’s society and the difficulties they frequently face. The entire family was invited to attend the course, and the classes began with a meal. Adults and school-age children were in separate classrooms with school-age children being taught parallel, age-appropriate content. The adults and children came together for the last 15 min for a family-strengthening activity. Child care was provided for preschool children.

Although Latinos accounted only for approximately one quarter of the participants in the statewide stepfamily education demonstration project, the present analyses focused exclusively on Spanish-speaking Latina women participants and their experiences in taking the course. In the spirit of feminist theory, we wanted to hear and raise up Latina women’s voices apart from other participants in order to learn about their unique experiences with the course.

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 27 adult Latino participants from Spanish-speaking classes and 13 were women. The language preference for all 13 women was Spanish and, therefore, all of the interviews were conducted in Spanish. Eleven of the women had biological children, four had partners with biological children, and six had children together. Therefore, some of the participants were biological mothers, some were stepmothers, and some were both. In this article, we will refer to all participants as mothers. Eight of the 13 women had their children living with them for more than 6 months of the year. In this study, there were a total of 31 children who lived with the women, and their ages ranged from 2 months to 18 years.

Because this was an evaluation of a statewide stepfamily education initiative, in a state which is predominately European America, the approved project protocols and surveys were general in nature. Although Latina families enrolled in the courses, the project did not focus on cultural differences nor did surveys gather in-depth information about cultural backgrounds such as country of origin and length of time in the United States. However, because there is no information available about Latinas in stepfamilies and their experiences in stepfamily education, we are reporting what we have found as a way to provide a base for further research and subsequent information about how to serve Latinas through stepfamily education.

The project manager, who did not personally know any of the participants or their perceptions of the course, identified potential interviewees from the attendance records. Participants were interviewed immediately following the last session of the 6-week course by trained research assistants. The ages of the 13 women ranged from 22 to 43 years with a mean age of 35 years. Education ranged from third grade to high school education with the mean number of years equivalent to a ninth-grade education. Their income level ranged from less than US$5,000 to US$30,000 a year. Seven percent of the women reported earning less than US$5,000 per year, 45% earned between US$5,000 and US$15,000 a year, and 15% made between US$15,000 and US$30,000 a year. Four respondents had missing information on income and, therefore, were not included in this report.

In the spirit of multicultural feminist theory, the interview questions focused on hearing the voices of Latina women as they describe their experiences with the stepfamily course. The overall research question was as follows: What were the experiences of Latina women who were taking a stepfamily education course? Interview questions to address this question included the following: What was your experience of taking this course with other stepfamilies? What was the best part of the stepfamily course for you? What are some of the positive/negative experiences, as a couple or family that have resulted from participation in the course?

Data were analyzed using the procedure described by Bogdan and Biklen (2003). Researchers (one faculty member and one research assistant) identified coding categories regarding the research question. The coding categories that resulted in the analysis included the multiple ways these women talked about their experiences. The researchers then developed themes that reflected the broader, more abstract summary of what was experienced by the participants. The coding was done independently by each researcher, and coding schemes were identified using free nodes in the qualitative software program NVivo, which was used to facilitate data analysis (Bazeley & Richards, 2000). Coding was consistent 80% of the time. When the researchers identified differences in the coding categories, they went back to the data and developed a consensus about which categories best reflected the participants’ responses. The findings in this article reflect the coding categories most often reported by the participating Latina women.

Findings

Latina mothers described their experiences of attending the stepfamily course, and three major themes emerged from their responses. Participants said their parent–child, couple, and overall family relationships improved as a result of the course. Parent–child relationships improved because of improved communication, learning to treat their children and stepchildren fairly, and by engaging in activities with their children. Couple relationships improved because of improved communication and utilizing other relationships skills learned in the class. Family relationships improved as a result of improved communication among family members, engaging in family activities, changing attitudes, and empathizing with what other stepfamily members were experiencing. Although they were very limited, a small number of participants indicated there were negative impacts as a result of attending the course. These negative results centered on the use of the step term.

Discussion and Implications

The government’s interest in the effective implementation of marriage education for underresearched and underserved families—such as low-income and Latino couples in stepfamilies—stems from the fact that most marriage-related programs have historically been developed for and offered to middle-class European Americans who are married, or will be getting married, for the first time (Ooms & Wilson, 2004). Even programs designed for diverse audiences are largely based on research from nondivorced, middle-class, European Americans (Adler-Baeder & Higginbotham, 2004). Thus, one might raise the question of suitability of these programs for members of diverse populations who face unique barriers to healthy marriages (Dion, 2005).

The government has also acknowledged the need for culturally appropriate and linguistically responsive marriage education services for Latino families. To this end, the Administration for Children and Families (n.d.) created the HHMI with the goal to “address the unique cultural, linguistic, demographic, and socio-economic needs of children and families in Hispanic communities.”

According the to the Latina mothers in this study, there were significant benefits from attending the stepfamily education program using the Smart Steps curriculum. Although the curriculum is based upon research, it did not focus on research with Latino or low-income stepfamilies. Yet, these women were able to use the information to improve family relationships. This study provides a qualitative overview of the experiences of Latina women in what is the first federally funded program specifically for stepfamilies.

What made it work? Was it because the program was implemented by collaborating with community organizations that serve these populations? Others have cited that partnering with trusted organizations is a critical aspect of working with culturally diverse audiences (Skogrand & Shirer, 2007). We do have an indication based upon interviews with facilitators who led the Spanish-speaking stepfamily courses that they encouraged discussion and they wove their own understanding of Latino culture into their facilitation (Reck et al., 2012). It has been suggested that both of these strategies would be welcoming and comfortable for Latino participants (Skogrand, Barrios-Bell, & Higginbotham, 2009). Children are also very important to Latinos and are important components of Latino marriages (Skogrand, Riggs, & Huffaker, 2008), and children typically accompany their parents to events and are not left with other caregivers (Skogrand et al., 2009). Children were a part of this stepfamily education program, and children were provided age-appropriate information with the classes ending in a family strengthening activity that included both adults and children. This format is likely consistent with Latino cultural practices that may have also contributed to these Latino women in stepfamilies benefiting from the format of this stepfamily course. Although this is speculation, we hope that other researchers will focus research questions around these issues.

There were problems or concerns, however. The present study identifies discomfort, by some Latina women in stepfamilies, with step terms. Two of the 13 women struggled with the use of the term step. Given that Latinos place great emphasis on the family, it is possible that the use of the word step could have been incongruous with their desire for or sense of familismo (Hurtado, 1995; Skogrand et al., 2009; Weaver, Umaña-Taylor, Hans, & Malia, 2001). Multicultural feminist theory should sensitize educators to the dilemma that Latina women in stepfamilies may find themselves. Coltrane, Gutierrez, and Parke (2008, p. 107) explain:

A certain degree of stigma may arise for Latino families, especially the blended types, from the perception that they are not unified or cooperative, which violates the value of familism. Therefore, some Latino families may be reluctant to readily specify that they are a stepfamily or to discuss the origins of their current family structure.

We might speculate, based upon findings in this study, that curriculum that is not developed for a particular cultural group will work for most content but not all. In this case, familismo may be such a pervasive cultural theme that a cultural clash results with terms or issues around divorce and remarriage. It would be important for additional research to explore this issue. With the steady increase in the number of Latino stepfamilies, it is important to know what works and does not work with the use of existing curricula, even if it is not developed for the Latino population.

The effectiveness of the stepfamily course was evident throughout the interviews as participants identified several benefits in their family relations. Parent–child relations, couple relations, and family relationships in general had identified improvements. Communication was the most commonly cited benefit in all areas of improved relationships in that it led to better understanding in couple, parent–child, and family relationships, and it created an emotional atmosphere that promoted trust and family unity. We might speculate that communication is a critical component of any stepfamily education, including Latina mothers—whether the participants are adults or children.

Although this study was about stepfamily education and counselors and therapists do provide education, these findings might also be useful for therapists, as they provide individual or family counseling with Latinas. For example, including all appropriate family members, specifically children, in therapy might be especially important for Latina women dealing with stepfamily issues. The benefits of therapy and counseling may result in improvements in parent–child, couple, and family relationships as was found in this study focusing on education. Also, if the therapist is not Latino, a cotherapist who is Latino might be engaged in order that Latino cultural issues might be incorporated into the therapy process. Given the problem with the step term, therapists might consider using other terms when providing therapy or counseling.

The findings from this study of Latina women resulted in findings different from the Coltrane et al. (2008) study which found that stepfathers were very involved in the lives of both stepchildren and children. This study found that the large majority (95%) of Latino stepfathers reported having a very positive relationship with their stepchildren. Although this question was not asked directly in this study, there were indications that these Latina mothers had not always have positive relationships with their stepchildren. For example, there was evidence of difficulty in treating children fairly and wanting to interact with stepchildren in a more positive way. One mother also said the course helped her be more involved in her stepchildren’s lives and not “being seen as the ‘evil stepmother’.” One might wonder, based upon this study compared with the Coltrane et al. (2008) study, whether Latina or Latino stepmother and stepfather parent–child relationships differ. If they differ, should these differences be acknowledged and addressed in Latino stepfamily education?

This qualitative study was conducted with a relatively small sample of low-income Latina women who participated in the Smart Steps stepfamily program. Further research might consider participants from other stepfamily programs. Would Latina women benefit from other stepfamily programs as well? Would the step term be viewed in the same way with other programs or with a larger sample? Does the advertising of a stepfamily program keep Latina women away from such programming? If so, how might the step issue be addressed with advertising a stepfamily program and how might it be addressed in the classes?

The limitations of this study and the need for further research are clear. This was an evaluation study that included Latina women, and we learned some things that might be helpful and a basis for further research in an area where there is clearly a need to develop further understanding. For example, it would be important to know more about the role of culture and language in stepfamilies and the role of culture and language in stepfamily education. McNamee and Raley (2011) have also clearly described the need to consider whether members of stepfamilies are foreign-born or born in the United States, the length of time in the United States, and the country of origin as impacting marriage, divorce, and cohabitation, and, thus, impacting stepfamily formation. These are all issues that could not be explored in this study but are important to consider in future research.

Given the need for stepfamily education for Latinos, however, using existing curricula—even if it is not based upon research with this population—may be a useful strategy until such research is available. It is important, however, for educators to be alert to times when the information is not culturally appropriate and may need to make changes based upon cultural differences.