The enactment of relational maintenance when Guatemalan parents are forcibly separated from their families due to deportation

ABSTRACT

This study examines how parents deported to Guatemala from the United States (U.S.) use relational maintenance strategies to preserve relationships with their family living in the U.S. In a context of forced separation where family reunification is severely constrained, this study considers economic, social, and cultural impacts on individuals’ abilities to engage in relational maintenance. Interviews conducted in Guatemala with parents having previously been deported from the U.S. were coded and analyzed using contextualist thematic analysis. Findings revealed that relational maintenance is crucial to family preservation, with parents relying on assurances, positivity, advice-giving, and social networks to maintain a sense of relational continuity and their own position of influence within the family. Parents faced barriers to enacting strategies of shared tasks, openness, and conflict management. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Deportation
• family separation
• relational maintenance
• family communication
• Latinx/Hispanic/immigrant

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the participants and community partners for their contributions to the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The project described was supported by The University of Wisconsin-Madison and The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Health Communication; Center for Health Communication; University of Wisconsin–Madison.