Family Estrangement Research Articles

Emerging Ideas. Family estrangement and its association with life satisfaction and depressiveness in adulthood

AbstractObjectiveThe aim was (a) to assess the association between family estrangement and psychological well‐being in adulthood, (b) to investigate potential differences in this association by type of relationship (intergenerational vs. siblings), and (c) to assess whether estrangement from multiple family relations (parents and siblings) is associated with cumulative disadvantage.BackgroundFamily estrangement is a quantitatively relevant phenomenon, whose association with psychological well‐being in adulthood has been insufficiently investigated.MethodAnalysis of data from the German Family Panel (pairfam; N = 5,245) involved running ordinary least squares regressions on the association between previous experiences of family estrangement (in Waves 5, 7, 9, and 11) with respondents' (aged 24–48 years) life satisfaction and depressiveness in Wave 11.ResultsFamily estrangement was negatively correlated with psychological well‐being. The strength of this relationship did not substantially differ by type of relationship (parents vs. siblings). Associations were strongest if estrangement from both parental and sibling ties was reported.ConclusionFamily estrangement is significantly associated with reduced psychological well‐being. This applies to vertical and horizontal ties in the family system. Co‐occurrence of estrangement from parents and siblings bears particularly strong negative relationships with psychological well‐being.ImplicationsResearchers and practitioners should consider spillovers of estrangement processes among family members and be aware of cumulative disadvantages this might bring about.

Family Estrangement and the Unseen Work of Not Doing Family

Family estrangement is a common yet understudied phenomenon, especially in the sociology of family and personal life. In societies where norms about ‘the family’ have moved on considerably to include non-biological kinship, blended families, chosen families and so on, an emphasis on close bonds and family rituals is often resilient creating stigma for those who are distant from family. In this article, I offer a sociological analysis of experiences of family estrangement reported via a qualitative survey, and explore three of the family practices involved in maintaining these ‘absent present’ relationships. This research contributes to and extends literature on family practices, family display and the notion of doing family, by looking at the family practices that are kept off display and the often unseen work that goes into not doing family. In doing so, it speaks to a growing interest in the constitutive role of absent, silenced or hidden aspects of social life, and attending questions about the impacts of such omissions.

The poetics of identity making: precarity and agency in Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim

ABSTRACT Bangladesh experienced a massive surge in humanitarian crises after the 1971 Liberation War due to the systematic use of violence at both public and private spheres. Fictional accounts of the post-conflict period depict women as subjected to institutionalised sexism and aggravated physical and mental violence. Critical studies on such narratives often reiterate a stereotypical and essentialising discourse surrounding women’s identity, characterising them as helpless and passive victims of discrimination and exploitation. Drawing upon Judith Butler’s notions of precarity and agency, we argue that the Bangladeshi-born British writer Tahmima Anam’s The Good Muslim transcends victimhood narratives by creating a more nuanced image of woman as vulnerable victims and resisting subjects at the same time. The novel is preoccupied with notions of vulnerability, violence, religious zealotry, and family estrangement. The findings reveal that the precariousness of women in the post-war period is caused and aggravated by violence and oppression perpetrated at political, social, and religious spheres. Female characters like Maya and Piya are presented as empowered agents of transformation when it comes to vulnerable situations that render them as insignificant and precarious. The study concludes that the novel contests and alters the stereotypical representations of women embedded in normalising and hegemonic discourses.

Affinity through Vulnerability​: The Politics of Positionality in Child Welfare

Child welfare is a challenging space for professionals, parents, and most of all children. The labour of care within this space is an intersection of personal histories and ongoing narratives that synthesise self, family, medicine, and the state. I explore how encounters with children in care brought me into this nexus and redefined my position as a researcher. Competing perspectives on the role of experience in shaping affinity reveal a contentious discourse about what it means to be a foster child. In this Position Piece I find that sharing vulnerability through the traumatic experience of family estrangement is one path to mutual understanding that may transcend cultural boundaries. Further, mobilising and reflecting on the vulnerability of estrangement demonstrates the social embeddedness of mental health and healing.

The Portrayal of Family Relationship in ‘Otherhood’ Movie

Every film depicts its unique subject matter and values to the real world. The concept of "Otherhood" illustrates the issue of family estrangement, which is one of the issues that society faces. It represents both the indicators of separation and the audience-observable causes of estrangement. It also depicts a jocasta complex, a reverse Oedipus complex on a parent. Although "Otherhood" contains such weighty subject matter, it is constructed with relatable dialogues and enjoyable yet engrossing sequences for the audience; these two elements are examined in this paper to determine the representation of family estrangement.

Autofiction: A Female Francophone Aesthetic of Exile

Antonia Wimbush’s Autofiction: A Female Francophone Aesthetic of Exile offers an analysis of different models of female exile and displacement by six Francophone postcolonial women writers of autofictional works. Where, traditionally, definitions of exile have more typically had a masculine focus, Wimbush instead places women at the center, filling a gap in the critical literature. The result is an intercultural approach to exile difficulties from a feminist perspective, with an emphasis on the complex equilibrium between autobiography and literature that occurs in autofiction. The six studied authors have enjoyed commercial and critical success, yet despite this, their adherence to the traditionally “masculine” genre of writings of exile also means that they do not operate in the canonical écriture féminine. The book is divided into seven main chapters, with the first chapter, “Exile, Autofiction, and Women’s Writing” introducing the concepts of exile and autofiction to the reader, focusing on the women’s point of view. One of Wimbush’s main opening arguments is that autobiographical fiction is particularly relevant in the postcolonial context. The second chapter deals with exile and family estrangement in two autofictional works by the Franco-Vietnamese author Kim Lefèvre: Métisse blanche (1989) and Retour à la saison des pluies (1990). The main theme of this chapter is the concept of métissage (mixed-race identity) and the author’s metaphorical exile from her own family and roots, as well as her geographical exile. Ultimately, Lefèvre reconciles her mixed-race identity with her origin, providing a positive conclusion to the tensions of métissage.

Public and family support and concerns for providing DNA to law enforcement in long-term missing person cases

The identification of long-term missing persons and unidentified human remains is a global challenge. Many people stay on missing persons registers, with unidentified human remains stored for extended periods in mortuaries around the world. Research exploring public and/or family support for providing DNA in long-term missing persons cases is scarce. The aims of this study were to examine whether trust in police predicted the level of support for providing DNA and explore public/family support and concerns for providing DNA in such cases. Trust in police was measured through two widely used empirical attitude scales; “The Measures of Police Legitimacy and Procedural Justice”. Support and concerns for giving DNA were measured through four hypothetical missing persons case scenarios. The results showed more positive attitudes towards police legitimacy and procedural justice significantly predicted support, with the percentage level of positive support across the four case types as follows: cases involving a long-term missing child (89%), elderly adult with dementia (83%), young adult with a history of runaway (76%), with the lowest level of support for an adult with an estranged family (73%). Participants also reported more concerns about providing DNA when the missing person circumstances involved family estrangement. Understanding levels of public/family support and concerns around providing DNA to police in missing persons cases is vital to ensure that DNA collection practices reflect what the public/family support and, wherever possible, alleviate public concerns.

An interview study exploring clients' experiences of receiving therapeutic support for family estrangement in the UK

AbstractMany people experience estrangement from a family member, which is broadly understood to refer to negative relationships that are characterised by little or no contact. However, little is known about how people cope with family estrangement. To address this gap, interviews were conducted with 46 participants who identified as being estranged from a parent/sibling and/or child and having sought therapeutic support for this experience. The participants were recruited from a UK‐based charity that supports individuals experiencing family estrangement. The participants had a range of experiences of therapeutic support, with most (N = 31, 67%) having paid for private therapy. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, and three themes were generated: (1) finding the missing qualities in estranged family relationships: warmth, validation and safety; (2) speaking the unspoken: addressing the causes and consequences of estrangement; and (3) learning relational skills: improving the relationship with oneself and with others. When the causes of estrangement were addressed in the context of a safe therapeutic relationship, participants learned strategies to improve the relationships they had both with themselves and with others. When participants experienced a cold or unresponsive therapeutic relationship, and the causes and consequences of estrangement were not adequately addressed or understood, counselling was experienced as unhelpful. Individuals who seek therapeutic support for family estrangement have specific needs. Training around these needs and the causes and consequences of estrangement could be beneficial to helping professionals and the clients with whom they work.

The efficacy of a facilitated support group intervention to reduce the psychological distress of individuals experiencing family estrangement

BackgroundStand Alone is a charity operating in the United Kingdom that supports adults who are estranged from a family member. The charity recognises that those who experience estrangement from a family member experience sadness, anger and a sense of loss. Due to stigma, they rarely disclose their experiences of estrangement to others. ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy of a six-session facilitated support group intervention for individuals experiencing family estrangement in reducing psychological distress. MethodsAttendees (N = 263) completed the CORE-10 questionnaire assessing psychological distress at registration and at completion of the groups. They also completed a brief survey at each time-point, including an open-ended question about how they felt the support groups had impacted their wellbeing (N = 51). ResultsAttendees experienced a statistically significant reduction in psychological distress, with average scores of distress falling from moderate levels of distress to mild. After attending the groups, attendees felt less alone and less ashamed. ConclusionSix-week facilitated support groups are an effective way of reducing psychological distress for individuals experiencing estrangement from a family member, helping attendees feel less alone and ashamed. Practice implicationsThrough facilitated support group intervention, it is possible to reduce the psychological distress of those individuals experiencing family estrangement.

Estrangement Between Siblings in Adulthood: A Qualitative Exploration

Relationships between siblings have been described as the longest lasting an individual can have, yet siblings both can and do become estranged from one another in adulthood. An online survey was disseminated to individuals who had sought support from the charity Stand Alone, which supports individuals who are experiencing family estrangement. Individuals estranged from one full genetic sister and/or brother were asked to describe the relationship in their own words. Open-text responses were thematically analysed from 291 respondents. Family systems were described as being characterised by estrangements, alliances and conflicts; there was variation in the participant’s preferences regarding reconciliation; and most respondents focused on describing their sibling’s challenging or disappointing characteristics and behaviour. The fact that siblings both can and do become estranged challenges commonly held assumptions about family relationships, confirming that they are not necessarily or always life-long, significant or supportive.

Psychosocial Construction of Fear: A Qualitative Content Analysis of COVID-19 Survivors' Stories Published in Online Newspapers

In a brief time, COVID-19 has changed the global picture. In the context of this pandemic, people are experiencing anxiety and fears. These fears of people areintensified by several factors such aspersonal experience of disease, the stigmatization they faced, and rejection they endured. Different theoretical perspectives explainedthefear,rangingfrom death anxiety to stigmatization and from social exclusion to family estrangement. The purpose of this study was to understand how "corona fear" is psychologically and socially constructed.24 COVID-19survivors' stories were selected from known e-newspapers such as Arab News, Times Herald, Express Tribune, Dawn News, India Today, BBC News, and Aljazeera News of different countries: Pakistan, China, South Korea, Argentina, South Africa, Nigeria, and Michigan. Using conventional qualitative content analysis, the narratives were analyzed. The results showed four major themes: Risk perception, death anxiety, social stigma, and psychological crisis. It was evident that corona patients boredouble pain; physical pain due to the disease,and emotional pain due to social rejection and discrimination. Health care authorities can join hands with mental healthprofessionals to implementprograms resolvingpsychological crises and stigmatization whichcan helpovercome such elements. By this study, we assume that a socio-linguistic analysis of the narrative accounts of COVID-19 patients and their caregivers can provide rich data related to language situated in pandemic contexts.

The Changing Impact and Challenges of Familial Estrangement

This study explored the experience of family estrangement, focusing on the estrangement’s nature (voluntary or involuntary) and approach (direct or indirect), to understand the experiences of individuals who no longer actively speak to family members, as described from the participants’ subjective perspectives. Current family estrangement research focuses on participants based in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia and this study provides a unique opportunity to view the experiences of estrangement in the Republic of Ireland. A qualitative approach was adopted, with data collected from five adults who are currently estranged from one or more family members for a period no less than 12 months. Specifically, thematic analysis was used to investigate patterns that accurately reflect the experiences of those estranged. The findings indicated that the experience can change over extended periods, with emotions such as anger and sadness and feelings of upset and stress that were present at the time of estrangement becoming less prevalent after a period ranging from 18 months to 10 years. Later experiences of estrangement were characterized by less stress, though sadness was still present for some and anger was present in situations where limited contact with estranged parties continued.

Risk Factors for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents: Results of an International Delphi Panel.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (CSECA) is a worldwide problem. The need to improve current detection and intervention protocols motivated this analysis, which aimed to use expert opinion to identify indicators (symptoms, conduct, or behaviors) that may help to predict the risk of suffering CSECA and to detect those who are suffering from it, as well as the type of detection tools and protocols that should be used. An international multidisciplinary group of experts in CSECA was invited to take part in this study. A two-round digital Delphi panel was undertaken with 22 experts. An ad hoc questionnaire was created, which included 41 questions about CSECA risk factors and interventions that should be considered during detection. The main indicators identified included normalization of dynamics of sexual exchange within the family, family history of sexual exploitation, and sexually transmitted infections. Predictive characteristics included economic extortion, lack of documentation, and family estrangement. Additionally, 95.5% of participants agreed that multiple victimizations in childhood should be considered for CSECA detection. This study provides information that may be very useful in the development/improvement of instruments for CSECA detection. With this approach we hope to promote the creation of tools adapted to the Spanish cultural context.

A Qualitative case study on inadequate public transport system and its social impact on people in Dhaka

This case study research assesses the social impacts of inadequate transport facilities on the people of the city of Dhaka using the qualitative content analysis method. From livelihood to the urban communities' mobility, all life-related matters are directly or indirectly related to public transport. However, the transport system in this city is one of the worst in the world. Hence, there is an absolute necessity to examine the inadequate transport facilities of the present transit system and their social effects on the people living in this city. Vanclay's Social Impact Assessment was integrated to investigate the impact. In six specific gateways of Dhaka, in-depth interviews with 1800 respondents were carried out to know about the social impacts of insufficient public transport facilities. The social impacts of inadequate transport facilities create problematic conditions specifically for the low and middle-income communities of Dhaka, aggravating traffic danger, absence of protection and safety, social isolation, reduced mobilities, loss of social capital, cultural deprivation, absence of social interaction, family estrangement, travel cost, deficiency of transport accessibility. In the future, it will have serious repercussions for its residents.

Age and Downward Mobility: From the Poorhouse to the Present

ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the problem of poverty and downward mobility for the elderly in the United States from the 19th Century to today. Using the author’s research with the history of poorhouses (also known as poor farms, workhouses, almshouses, and later county homes and hospitals) he describes the situation of many older people as they faced poverty, family estrangement, personal loss, and medical problems. Looking to provide a brief comparison to our past and current situation, Wagner summarizes a set of statistics about the elderly in the 21st century including low income, low savings for retirement, and lack of adequate health care to suggest that while there have been a few improvements, on the whole a majority of elderly people face the same and similar serious issues as did our forerunners.

Family Partnering in Australian Therapeutic Residential Care: A Scoping Study

ABSTRACT Therapeutic residential care (TRC) privileges healing from trauma for vulnerable children and young people. It presents an opportunity for staff to partner with families to overcome trauma-induced conflicts and separations and build positive, resilient relationships. Co-parenting of residents by staff and parents can become possible. Positive impacts of effective family partnering in residential care generally, and within TRC specifically, are affirmed by international evidence. Family partnering in TRC has not, however, been formally researched in Australia. This preliminary scoping study aimed to explore approaches to family partnering within Australian TRC, along with elements of best practice. It also attempted to identify opportunities and challenges encountered in the partnering process. Australian experience is contextualized more broadly by international informants. Interviews with managers (N = 8) and experts (N = 6) were undertaken. Findings suggest that staff commitment to building trusted relationships with parents and children, within sibling groups and with significant others is critical to effective partnering. Healing family trauma and estrangement can be facilitated by ensuring optimum family access to and inclusion within the program. Equity and empowerment strategies and support of diverse family, family-like and community relationships appear critical to effective policy and programmatic development. This study provides a platform for larger scale research.

Student estrangement in higher education: identity formation and the struggle against stigma

While investigation on family estrangement is growing within academic circles, research regarding the interconnection between experiences of estrangement and higher education (HE) is still limited. Sociological understandings of these issues are even scarcer, with policy interventions and practical guidance forming early interventions in HE. Set within the context of Scotland, this paper explores the experiences of HE students who are estranged from their family, and interrogates the ways students develop a sense of identity in the context of their academic lives. The paper applies Goffman’s work on stigma and identity management in relation to Bourdieu’s concept of capitals to cast a critical eye on the identity formation of estranged students. In doing so, we challenge normative assumptions of what it means to be a university student in contemporary society and urge institutions and policy makers to rethink the complexity of students’ academic lives in more inclusive ways.

The Day My Life Changed: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Patients With New Daily Persistent Headache.

This study aimed to explore the views and experiences of a group of Spanish patients suffering from new daily persistent headache (NDPH). A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with patients diagnosed with NDPH. Purposeful sampling was performed among patients attending a specialized Headache Unit at 2 university hospitals between February 2017 and December 2018. In total, 18 patients (11 women, 7 men; mean age 45.3, standard deviation 10.6) with a median duration of illness of 70months (interquartile range, 24-219) were recruited to this study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, researchers' field notes and patients' drawings. Thematic analysis wasused to identify emerging themes. Three main themes were identified: (1) the origin of the illness and seeking answers; (2) characteristics of the pain; and (3) the impact of pain on patients' lives. The patients precisely recalled the time of onset and the trigger of the pain. Pain was constantly present, although it varied in form. At the onset, pain was perceived as a sign of alarm while, over time, it became an invisible illness. The headache commonly had a major impact on everyday life and could cause lifestyle changes. In addition, pain could be emotionally disruptive andcould also lead to family estrangement and a search for solitude. Our results provide insight into how NDPH is experienced, which may be helpful in managing NDPH patients. In our cohort, patients identified precipitating events but sought answers regarding the origin of their illness and their pain. Pain was a continuous sensation that had a major impact on patients' daily lives and emotions.

The difficulty in evidencing family estrangement to attain statutory finance in UK Higher Education

AbstractAcquiring statutory funding to study in Higher Education brings complex difficulties for UK students under the age of 25 who are estranged from their family, but have not been part of the care system. This paper explores the experiences of 564 estranged students and their experiences of providing evidence of family estrangement in order to access statutory student financial support. It finds that those who disclosed their family estrangement to a professional found it easier to access statutory student finance. However, the stigma around family estrangement was a barrier to disclosure as participants felt shame and humiliation when approaching a professional to support their application. These difficulties led to substantial delays in receiving statutory finance for estranged students which subsequently had an impact on their retention and equitable student experience at the beginning of the academic year. The paper concludes with key recommendations for improvements to the process of proving family estrangement. It will question the parental means‐testing system itself, outlining key disadvantages for students experiencing family disruption.

Mourning My Mother: An Exploration of the Complex Emotions Elicited by the Terminal Illness of an Estranged Parent

In 2017, I learned that my estranged mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. This article explores the conflicting emotional responses I have had following the decision not to reconnect with my mother, not to provide care for her during her illness, and not to attend her funeral (when the time comes). This study combines my own creative explorations of child neglect, through autophenomenography, with examinations of autobiographical accounts of mother-daughter relationships and literature on family estrangement and the loss of a parent. I suggest that I already ‘read’ myself as a motherless daughter, and that caring, (re)mourning, and (re)grieving for my mother would entail reentering a dysfunctional dyad and opening up past wounds. There appear to be few resources to draw on regarding how to navigate this particular emotional terrain. This article does not intend to provide a prescriptive model for this type of loss, but rather aims at opening up for queer modes of grieving and mourning and suggests that, in some cases, the denial of care for an estranged parent translates into self-care and self-preservation.