A phenomenological study of parental estrangement

The United States' divorce rate is 40 to 50%, according to the CDC's National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends (2015), with high conflict divorces being a part of this rate. In the high conflict divorces, parental estrangement can be a negative outcome of the conflict between the parents involved in the divorce. The results of this research found that children who experienced parental estrangement during parental divorce when they were children included themes of anger, frustration, disappointment, visitations, isolation, impact, queries-questions-uncertainties, and control. Over a period of time (weeks, months, and even years) the control the alienating (custodial) parent had on the child was able to develop into parental estrangement with the targeted parent. The results uncovered the predominating alienating parent for the participants in this study were the custodial parents. The participants noted that it did not matter if the non-custodial parent lived down the street or several states away; the estrangement that developed was the same for each of them.