Susan Kay-Flowers, Childhood Experiences of Separation and Divorce: Reflections from Young Adults

Excerpt

Are there factors that determine how well a young adult has adjusted to their parents’ separation? In Childhood Experiences of Separation and Divorce: Reflections from Young Adults, Susan Kay-Flowers aims to give a voice to childhood experiences of separation through the eyes of the young adults who experienced their parents’ separation as children. Kay-Flowers combines her professional experience as a social worker, family court advisor, and professor, as well as her research findings from the study discussed in this book to provide new considerations for those who work with children and families during separation in order to help children better adjust during separation. Kay-Flowers demonstrates that the child’s initial reaction to learning of their parents’ separation, their support systems at that time, their ability to discuss the separation with others, and the presence of parental conflict all have an impact on the child’s overall adjustment to the changes separation brings. Her research gives important insight into how parents and professionals can better serve the interests of children and help them accommodate in a healthy manner to parental separation. …