"The troublesome other and I": Parallel stories of separated parents in prolonged conflicts.

Publisher: Blackwell Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7904614 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1752-0606 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 0194472X NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Marital Fam Ther Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2007->: Malden, Mass. : Blackwell
Original Publication: Washington, D.C., American Assn. for Marriage and Family Therapy

Divorce* ; Family Conflict* ; Parenting*; Female ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Male ; Qualitative Research

This qualitative study aims to explore how noncohabiting parenting couples in prolonged conflict construct the other parent and themselves. Ten parents from five parent couples were interviewed. A dyadic analytical design was used, where parent's stories of conflict were analyzed in parallel with their co-parent. Drawing on positioning theory, self-identity as parents emerged as implicit counter positions in storylines, which construct the co-parent as "the troublesome other." Two typologies of conflicted storylines were prominent in the findings: storylines of violations of trust, positioning the co-parents in relation to traumatic events in the past and, storylines of who is bad, positioning the co-parent as either a disloyal co-parent or a dysfunctional parent. The findings indicate that prolonged conflicts made it impossible to find available positions for cooperation. We argue that family therapists should aid each household toward promoting child and family resilience rather than continued efforts to solve chronic conflicts.
(© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.)

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Office for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufetat), Norway

Date Created: 20210109 Date Completed: 20211013 Latest Revision: 20211013

20221213

10.1111/jmft.12474

33421170