Relationship Separation and Help-seeking: Reporting on an Agency Study

ABSTRACT

Relationship separation affects many Australians with around 20,000 divorces involving children formalised per year. For profit, government and nongovernment organisations all offer services for separated couples and families. Despite promotion of specialist services such as mediation and child-centred services, which seek to assist families to navigate what is a complex interaction between public and legislative structures, there is little known about the potentially broader array of supports and information people use following separation. Better understanding of help-seeking behaviours for separating couples enables more effective targeted policy and service delivery. Individuals with children accessing a nongovernment-funded program for support during separation (n = 134) were asked to complete a survey that was designed to track their help-seeking behaviour. We found that help-seeking for legal services was more common than seeking help for self-care, but that both were important for many people in the sample. Friendship networks, and medical and health professionals were the most common sources of information and support. We argue that social work has a role in promoting and supporting parents who are separating to access a broader range of informal support networks and professional services.

IMPLICATIONS

• Parental separation and divorce can involve complex legal, emotional, and social issues.

• Friendship networks as well as professional services are important sources of support.

• Social workers should be aware of their role in helping separating parents access support.

• Social work education should provide theoretical and skills-based knowledge to equip social workers to work with people experiencing separation.

婚姻关系破裂影响着许多澳大利亚人，每年约有二十万起连带子女的正式离婚。政府和非政府组织都会为离异夫妻及其家庭提供服务。除了那些旨在帮助离异家庭熟悉公共与法律结构间复杂互动的调解以及儿童中心等服务机构外，我们对于人们在离异后使用的更广泛的潜在支持和信息知之甚少。对于离异夫妻寻求帮助的行为理解的越多，就越有助于政策及服务的发放有的放矢。离异期间获得非政府资助项目的、育有子女的一些个体，按我们的要求完成了一项追踪他们求助经历的调查。笔者发现，向正规服务机构寻求帮助比自力自助要普遍，但对于样本中的许多人来说二者同样重要。朋友网络以及医疗健康专业人员是最主要的信息和支撑来源。笔者认为，社会工作在帮助离异家长获得更宽泛的非正规支持网络以及专业服务方面可以发挥作用。

KEYWORDS:

• Divorce
• Parenting
• Separation
• Help-seeking

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.