A Qualitative Analysis of Fathers' Experiences of Parental Time after Separation and Divorce

Abstract

Research suggests that a lack of father involvement in divorced families may have negative effects on fathers, mothers, and their children. However, past research has often failed to include men's perspectives of the factors that influence their parental role after separation or divorce. Despite the fact a majority of fathers experience a decrease in child access following separation; research has often overlooked the significance of parental time to fathers' experiences of parenting after separation and divorce. This study is an analysis of interviews completed with men regarding their desire to remain involved with their children after separation or divorce. Emerging from the analysis was the overall tension experienced when desires for time with their children conflict with the time available to fathers. The results feature participants' descriptions of this tension, as well as, the ways they navigated this tension in their efforts to maintain involvement following separation and divorce.Through interactions with others and our experiences of the world in which we live and act, we have developed multiple metaphors to describe our experiences of time (e.g., "time flies," "time stands still," "time is money"), suggesting time is a phenomenon experienced with great diversity and difference. Considering our seemingly subjective experiences of time, it is surprising that social science has often been limited in its approach to time as a quantitative measure, frequently employing time diaries to

The Tango of Loving Hate: Couple Dynamics in High-Conflict Divorce

“…Access to children also appears to play a role in continued conflict between co-parents following divorce. Hallman et al (2007) conducted a qualitative study that examined fathers' perceptions of actual time spent with their children versus the amount of time they wished to spend with their children. The findings of the study suggest that fathers are often conflicted over how much time they spend with their children, and that the quality and significance of the time may change for them.…”

Fathers on Leave Alone in Portugal: Lived Experiences and Impact of Forerunner Fathers

“…Fathers describe what some scholars call a 'shift in time experience' (Hallman et al 2007 ). They spoke of experiencing both a strong pressure from the constant and tiring demands of daylong caring for a baby and a diffi cult juggling, or loss, of opportunities to do other things, including resting, leisure, working or household tasks.…”

Non-resident fathers’ holidays alone with their children: experiences, meanings and fatherhood

“…Specifically, we know very little about nonresident fathers' travel with their children who do not engage in daily family activities. This situation is in contrast to a growing body of work on non-resident fatherhood and core leisure more generally, which is emerging in leisure studies (e.g., Jenkins, 2009;Jenkins & Lyons, 2006), family studies (e.g., Amato & Gilbreth, 1999;Hallman, Dienhart, & Beaton, 2007;Stewart, 1999) and wider social sciences discourses.…”

“…Our explorative research indicates leisure holidays may be an important part of nonresident fathers' ways to maintain involvement with their children after separation and divorce (Hallman et al, 2007), particularly in the absence of important daily family leisure activities (Buswell et al, 2012). Those holidays can help restore a balance within family functioning and achieve greater family cohesion which is usually provided by core or everyday leisure in a family systems framework (Zabriskie & McCormick, 2001).…”

“…Grounded theory specifically lends itself to the discovery of relatively unknown social phenomena (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). A grounded theory process can be a means to allow both new perspectives regarding fathers' leisure, travel and involvement with their children following separation or divorce to emerge (Hallman et al, 2007;Jenkins, 2009), and fathers' own words to be used to inform theory and social processes under investigation (Glaser, 2001).…”