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"I've Kept It That Way on Purpose"

Adolescents' Management of Negative Parental Relationship Traits after Divorce and Separation

Ball State University

Although more attention has been given in recent years to adolescents' influences on family dynamics after divorce, little is still known about the forms such agency takes, the rationales and structures that shape it, or its consequences. This study is an examination of adolescents' reports of the ways in which they manage negative aspects of their relationships with their parents. In-depth interviews with fifty adolescents from divorced or separated households are examined for emergent themes related to adolescent agency. The findings suggest that adolescents utilize a variety of relationship management strategies that both shape and are shaped by household structure. These strategies and their possible consequences are described, along with rationales that adolescents use for employing them.

Key Words: divorce • adolescents • parenting • individuation • presentation of self

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 37, No. 5, 586-618 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0891241607310545


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