Parenting in the context of shared physical custody: a typology of boundaries drawn with the ex-partners’ dwelling
(2024) 16th ESA conference — Location: Porto (29.August.2024)
Files
No attached file found for this publication.
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Shared physical custody is a post-divorce arrangement where children alternatively reside with each of their parents. Based on the testimonies of 21 Belgian teenagers, collected with participatory methodologies, and semi-structured interviews with their parents, this presentation explores the boundaries that the parents draw between their dwelling and that of their ex-partner, based on their own parental functioning. We first present five parental functioning styles (adapted from Widmer et al, 2004). These styles correspond to different practices and ways of conceiving family relationships within the new household, and in relation with the ex-partner. We then show that each parental functioning corresponds to a specific way of drawing boundaries with the ex-partners’ home – thus giving shape to a particular form of island (the fortress island, the cocoon island, the reef island, the open island, and the wild island). The degree of (im)permeability of the boundaries delimiting each parental island depends on three types of spatial-temporal limits, namely boundaries of displacement, which refer to the potential for children to move between their parental residences and see their parents when they are not residing with them; virtual contact boundaries, which refer to whether or not children are encouraged to keep in touch with their parents through communication technologies; and transfer boundaries, which refer to the extent to which children are allowed/expected to take personal belongings to the other parent's residence. Each type is illustrated with quotes from the children’s testimonies. Finally, we show that the way in which each parent establishes a particular form of inter-household boundary is influenced by a variety of factors, including material, spatial, familial, and temporal.
- Affiliations
Citations
Merla, L. (2024). Parenting in the context of shared physical custody: a typology of boundaries drawn with the ex-partners’ dwelling. 16th ESA conference, Porto. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/233142