The increase in the number of separation/divorce has favored the emergence of new family structures. Thus, remarriage becomes a possibility for developing the family group which requires emotional, social and economic reorganization of the family, as well as greater flexibility to negotiate association, space, time and authority. The objective of this article was to describe the structure and dynamics of a stepfamily having a child with cerebral palsy, based on the members' representations of conflict situations. In this case study focused on a family, made up of three members: mother, son and stepfather. A semi-structured interview and the Family System Test (FAST) were applied. The FAST scores showed closeness in the mother-child dyad and distance in the stepfather-stepson dyad, with the hierarchy focused on the mother figure. As to the flexibility of boundaries, the couple's perception indicated rigid boundaries, both for the family and for parental systems, while the child's perception of the family system revealed diffused boundaries. Therefore, some factors highlighted in the literature and evident in this family such as differences in the couple's life cycle, short period of marriage, emotional baggage between mother and son, added to demands of child care, resources and biopsychological provisions, constituted a rigid standard with low flexibility, which made it difficult to include the stepfather in the group, resulting in less commitment to co-parenting in the care and education of the stepchild.
Special Education; Stepfamily; Cerebral Palsy; Familiar Conflict
