Browsing by Author "Pihlajamäki, Sari"

The aim of the study was to find out negotiation experiences between the parents of co-parenting arrangements. The research problem is how the cooperation is built in co-parenting arrangements through negotiations and what kind of actions co-parents do to make the family form to continue. These co-parenting arrangements are based mutual agreement and the child’s biological parents and their desired partners are committed to raising the child together, without an intimate or romantic relationship between co-parents. The negotiation is understood as a combination of verbal communication and actions between the parties and the goal is to accomplish joint understanding. Parenting in these families has been found to be thoughtful and well planned. The research was carried out using qualitative research methods. The research group included the parents in co-parenting arrangement families who have already have a child. The data was collected through a semi-structured thematic interview. Three persons were interviewed, two of them defined themselves as mothers and one as father. Interviewees were acquired through social media, researcher contacts, and the snowball effect. Two interviews were conducted face-to-face and one remotely on video. The data was analyzed by data-driven content analysis. The analysis suggests that in the co-parenting arrangements family was established based on the similarity of parents’ wishes and values. The biological mother’s home had the most decision-making power. Parents tried to find potential problems and eliminated them in advance or made changes in their actions when the problems arose. Lack of arguments was understood as smooth and well working co-parenting. According to the study, the biological parent’s bond with the child is considered special and the role of the biological mother is the least negotiable. The negotiations are related to building cooperation in the co-parenting arrangements families. Research shows that in these family’s co-parents consciously construct their cooperation from the time they first met. If some of the parents has life changes it also affects other co-parent’s daily life and their roles. Therefore, the society should be able to provide support for these families to build their co-operation that considers the specificities of the family.