Rethinking maternal gatekeeping from a life-course perspective: A study of post-separation families

Objective

The article examines how maternal gatekeeping practices evolve in the post-separation trajectory and identifies the main relational and contextual factors shaping these processes over time.

Background

Studies of maternal gatekeeping have only recently begun to include post-separation families based on cross-sectional research designs. This article is theoretically grounded in a life-course and human agency framework, and it both offers a novel understanding of maternal gatekeeping as a dynamic process and examines its relational embeddedness.

Methods

The data stem from the prospective qualitative study “The multiple paths of lone parenthood,” which has been ongoing in Switzerland for over a decade and includes four waves of semistructured interviews with mothers who have experienced lone parenthood (N = 88 interviews).

Results

Most mothers reported active facilitation practices at the beginning of their trajectory, encouraging the father–child relationship. Subsequently, shifts toward hands-off or active gate-closing practices took place over time along with the evolution of relational circumstances, such as the father's involvement or children's autonomy, or by an accumulation of negative experiences.

Conclusion

The relationship with the nonresident father creates ongoing moral dilemmas for mothers over the post-separation trajectory. Indeed, these mothers must navigate social norms that emphasize the importance of ensuring father–child contact while safeguarding the child's well-being and ensuring that the father complies with visitation arrangements and alimony.

Implications

Professional support and legal regulations should consider the moral dilemmas experienced by mothers by establishing measures to relieve separated mothers of the need to take the initiative to obtain the father's compliance with their obligations.