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Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: The Lived Experience Of Extended Family Reconciliation, Sheryl Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented the increasing role of grandparents who provide care for their grandchildren; however, few have studied extended family reconciliation after grandparents assumed their primary care. This study explored the reconciliation experiences of 12 grandparents who were primary caretakers of their grandchildren. Using Moustakas's phenomenological research approach, the participants were interviewed about their experiences of the relationship triad (grandparent-grandchild, grandparent-adult child, parent-child). Attachment theory and family systems theory were the conceptual frameworks to explore the central research question, which addressed the meaning of extended family reconciliation for grandparents who become primary caregivers of grandchildren. Using NVivo, the interview data …