Grandparenting in divorced families

Description

Grandparenting in divorced families is the first in-depth exploration of grandparents' relationships with their adult children and grandchildren in divorced families. It asks what part grandparents might play in public policy and whether measures should be taken to support their grandparenting role. Do grandparents have a special role in family life that ought to be recognised in law? This book examines grandparents' roles and functions and gives voice to their attitudes and opinions. Grandparenting is often represented sentimentally with too little account taken of the diversity of attitudes and behaviour. The study asks challenging questions about grandparents' contributions to family life and comments on the legal and policy implications. It includes fascinating discussion of issues such as: grandparents who are excluded and ignored; partisan behaviour and its effect on family relationships; communicating across the family divide; change and continuity in grandparents' relationships with their grandchildren. This groundbreaking book is intended for a wide readership. Grandparents and parents in divorced families will identify with many of the thoughts, feelings and experiences reflected here. Academics in social science and law departments will encounter new thinking about the nature of the grandchild-grandparent relationship. Policy makers will discover more about recent policy initiatives and their strengths and limitations.

Neil Ferguson is a psychologist who was a researcher in the Law School at Cardiff University. He has most recently been attached to a research team that worked on a Nuffield Foundation funded project on grandparenting in a divorced family at Cardiff University.

"This highly topical report is one of the first studies of grandparenting in the UK. It provides a unique, detailed and often moving view of the roles that grandparents play in divorced families, and how their children and grandchildren respond to them. Its findings will be influential in shaping family policy, law, research and practice." Geoff Dench, Institute of Community Studies, London