Family routines and rituals following separation: continuity and change

Abstract

Separation always changes family life. The aim of this study is to gain insight into the everyday practices of ‘doing family’ after separation. We focus on two central elements of family life: routines and rituals. While in most families both parents are involved in family routines and rituals, this is often not the case in post-separation families. Based on the narratives of 35 separated parents living in the Netherlands, we found three types of post-separation families. For all three types, routines with the children are practised separately with each parent or mainly with the resident parent. However, the three types differ greatly in how they practise family rituals. Rituals play an important role in displaying the post-separation family as a coherent unit. Our study further reveals that the type of post-separation family is not necessarily consistent with the custodial and residential arrangement and may change over time.