Reconstructing the Brothers Grimm: new tales for step-family life

Step-families are situated within the sociopolitical context of family change and are examined as a prototype of the "post-modern" family. This essay looks at the cultural construction of step-family life and proposes a model for collaboratively reconstructing stories that liberate step-relationships from the legacy of the Brothers Grimm, deconstructing the stories of failure, insufficiency, and neglect. Building on narrative and social constructionist ways of thinking about families, the concept of side-shadowing (a hermeneutic approach from literary/historical criticism) is introduced to elucidate how therapists can help family members discover ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are both more personally satisfying and more congruent with the changed context of family life. Two therapeutic challenges are high-lighted: reconceptualizing what it means to be a step-family and coming to terms with differential attachment in relationships while working with step-families. The essay ends with a fairy tale for the 21st century.