| This qualitative study investigates the evolutionary process in shared physical parenting. The researcher sought to learn about the changes which occur in the structure and the logistics of shared arrangements, and in the people involved. Other questions the researcher brought to the investigation concerned the factors which influence changes, and the importance of those changes for the parents and children who live daily with the vicissitudes of shared physical parenting.;The researcher found that one theme common to all of the investigated plans was the high degree of motivation of each of the parents to base the parenting plan decision on what was considered to be in the children's best interests. The results of this study indicate that the sharing of parental responsibilities can endure over time despite the changes which occur, and despite varying degrees of inter-spousal conflict. The results also suggest that the changes occur for a multitude of reasons. The participants in this study have been sufficiently flexible in their emotional and physical responses to the changes that the plans have continued to operate successfully.;The findings of this study have implications for the legal, mental health, and legislative communities in Canada. Legislation must recognize the potential ability of divorcing couples to share parenting rights and responsibilities, and must reflect an awareness that couples who cannot co-operate at the time of separation may well be able to embark on a shared venture at some later date. Judges, lawyers, family mediators, and therapists should acknowledge the reality that the end of a marital relationship does not signal the dissolution of the parent-child connection or, when parents are motivated to work together, the co-parental relationship.;Ten individuals--four divorced 'couples', and two adolescents--participated in the study. Date were collected and analyzed by one researcher using an open-ended interview approach, and generally accepted principles of qualitative data analysis. |
