Parenthood and We-ness in Everyday Life: Parenting Together Apart

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Abstract

This chapter explores narratives of sharing parental responsibility in everyday life among parents who do not live together. It is a social-psychological analysis of qualitative interview data focusing on family relations and social networks in everyday life in Denmark. The interview data stem from a large research project on the consequences of individualisation for social networks and family life. One of the dilemmas of post-divorce parenting comprises sharing parental responsibility while simultaneously separating from the other parent. Applying a case-based analysis, two interpretative frameworks of good parenthood is identified: devotion and symmetry. Moreover, it is discussed how these frameworks intersect with the conflict narrative of divorce. To further explore the meaning of good post-divorce parenting, a concept of we-ness is introduced in the context of divorce. The chapter concludes by arguing that post-divorce parenthood can be understood as reinventing the family (Beck-Gernsheim 2002) and re-constituting we-ness in novel ways.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDoing Good Parenthood : Ideals and Practices of Parental Involvement
EditorsAnna Sparrman, Allan Westerling, Judith Lind, Karen Ida Dannesboe
Number of pages9
Place of PublicationBasingstoke
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Publication date2016
Edition1
Pages127-136
ISBN (Print)978-3-319-46774-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016
SeriesStudies in Family and Intimate Life

Keywords

  • Conflict
  • Narrative approach
  • Post divorce parenting
  • Recognition
  • Social psychology
  • Sociological imagination
  • We-ness

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