Family Interactions

The Harrison family in the 1998 film "Stepmom" consists of the father (Luke Harrison, played by Ed Harris), the ex-wife and mother (Jackie Harrison, played by Susan Sarandon), the daughter (Anna Harrison, played by Jena Malone), the son (Ben Harrison, played by Liam Aiken), and the soon-to-be stepmom (Isabel Kelly, played by Julia Roberts). The children's natural mother and ex-wife becomes of aware that she has cancer, a number of therapies are tried, but finally everyone must face the fact that disease will end her life before long.

The parents of Anna and Ben have divorced, and their father's girlfriend, Isabel -- a single, successful professional photographer -- is living with them. Isabel's efforts to provide good mothering to the children is met at every turn by their resistance -- understandably, the children want their parents back together. Ganong, et al. (2011) identified six patterns of step-relationship development,...
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