Parents with enduring child disputes: Multiple pathways to enduring disputes
Joan B Kelly
Corte Madera, California, United States of America
PP: 37 - 50
Abstract
The normative course of the divorce process is one of heightened anger and conflict, anxiety, diminished communication, and sadness or depression for one or both partners.
Frequently caused by feelings of betrayal, abandonment, suspicion, and sharp disappointment, these emotions are often accelerated by the separation and the adversarial nature of the divorce.
The majority of couples significantly diminish their anger and conflict in the first two to three years following divorce (Hetherington & Kelly 2002; King & Heard 1999; Wallerstein & Kelly 1980). Most of these emotionally disengaged couples will provide parenting in a parallel fashion in each home, or will cooperatively parent their children (Hetherington 1999; Maccoby & Mnookin 1992). In either instance, the parents and their children will generally experience low conflict in the ensuing years.
A small percentage of parents, estimated to be between 8 to 12%, continue to engage in conflict in the years following divorce, with little if any diminution of anger and hateful feelings (King & Heard 1999; Maccoby & Mnooki 1992).
This relatively small group of chronically contentious and litigating parents utilise disproportionate resources and time of the courts, and their children are very likely to be exposed to emotional and physical interparental aggression (Johnston & Campbell 1988; Johnston & Roseby 1997).
Keywords
parental divorce, child disputes, chronic high conflict, marital, separation, and personality factors, adversarial process
Article Text
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