This interpretive study utilized a dialectical framework to explore themes that emerged in interviews with grandparents engaged in raising their grandchildren full-time (i.e. surrogate parents). Detailed interviews with 45 surrogate parents (ranging in age from 45 to 76 years old) were examined inductively and results revealed three primary contradictions: (i) connection versus separation, (ii) stability versus change, and (iii) protection versus expression. Multiple dialectical radiants are embedded within these three primary contradictions. Dialectical radiants for connection/separation included: responsibility-for versus freedom-from, desire versus obligation, blessing versus sacrifice, and safety versus threat. Dialectical radiants for stability/change included: health versus illness, and youthfulness versus aging. Dialectical radiants for protection/expression included: permissiveness versus discipline, and parent versus grandparent. A conceptual model visually demonstrates knots of contradictions for grandparent surrogate experiences.
Afifi, T.D. (2003). `Feeling caught' in stepfamilies: Managing boundary turbulence through appropriate communication privacy rules. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 729-755.
2.
Altman, I. (1993). Dialectics, physical environments, and personal relationships. Communication Monographs, 60, 26-41.
3.
Bachman, H.J., & Chase-Lansdale, P.L. (2005). Custodial grandmothers' physical, mental, and economic well-being: Comparisons of primary caregivers from low-income neighborhoods. Family Relations, 54, 475-487.
4.
Baird, A.H. (2003). Through my eyes: Service needs of grandparents who raise their grandchildren, from the perspective of a custodial grandmother . In B. Hayslip, Jr., & J. Hicks Patrick (Eds.), Working with custodial grandparents (pp. 59-65). New York: Springer.
5.
Baxter, L.A. (1988). A dialectical perspective on communication strategies in relationship development. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 257-273). New York: Wiley.
6.
Baxter, L.A. (1990). Dialectical contradictions in relationship development . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 69-88.
7.
Baxter, L.A. (2004). Distinguished scholar article: Relationships as dialogues. Personal Relationships, 11(1), 1-22.
8.
Baxter, L.A. (2006). Relational dialectics: Multivocal dialogues of family communication. In D. O. Braithwaite & L. A. Baxter (Eds.), Engaging theories of family communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 130-145). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
9.
Baxter, L.A., Braithwaite, D.O., Bryant, L., & Wagner, A. (2004). Stepchildren's perceptions of the contradictions in communication with stepparents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 447-467.
Bochner, A.P. & Eisenberg, E. (1987). Family process: System perspectives. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook on communication science (pp. 540-563). Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE.
12.
Braithwaite, D.O., & Baxter, L.A. (2006). `You're my parent but you're not': Dialectical tensions in stepchildren's perceptions about communicating with the nonresidential parent. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 34, 30-48.
13.
Burton, L.M. (1992). Black grandparents rearing children of drug-addicted parents: Stressors, outcomes, and social services needs. The Gerontologist, 32, 744-751.
14.
Conville, R.L. (1998). Telling stories: Dialectics of relational transition . In B. M. Montgomery & L. A. Baxter (Eds.), Dialectical approaches to studying personal relationships (pp. 17-37). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
15.
Cornforth, M. (1968). Materialism and the dialectical method. New York: International Publishers.
16.
Coupland, J., Coupland, N., Giles, H., & Henwood, K. (1991). Formulating age: Dimensions of age identity in elderly talk. Discourse Processes, 14, 87-106.
17.
Cox, C.B. (2000). Why grandchildren are going to and staying at Grandmother's house and what happens when they get there. In C. B. Cox (Ed.), To grandmother's house we go and stay: Perspectives on custodial grandparents (pp. 3-19). New York: Springer.
18.
Creighton, L. (1991). Grandparents: The silent saviors. U.S. News and World Report, 80-89.
19.
De Toledo, S., & Brown, D.E. (1995). Grandparents as parents: A survival guide for raising a second family. New York: The Guilford Press.
20.
Edwards, O.W. (2003). Living with grandma: A grandfamily study. School Psychology International, 24, 204-217.
21.
Glaser B. G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
22.
Goodman, C.C., & Silverstein, M. (2005). Grandmothers who parent their grandchildren. Journal of Family Issues, 22, 557-578.
23.
Granovetter, M.S. (1976). Network sampling: Some first steps. American Journal of Sociology, 81, 1287-1303.
24.
Hirshorn, B.A. (1998). Grandparents as caregivers. In M. E. Szinovacz (Ed.), Handbook on grandparenthood . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press .
25.
Jendrek, M.P. (1993). Grandparents who parent their grandchildren: Effects on lifestyle. Journal of Marriage and Family, 55, 609-622.
26.
Jendrek, M.P. (1994). Grandparents who parent their grandchildren: Circumstances and decisions. The Gerontologist, 34, 206-216.
27.
Kelley, S.J., & Damato, E.G. (1996). Grandparents as primary caregivers. Maternal/Child Nursing Journal, 25, 151-155.
28.
Kelley, S.J., Yorker, B.C., Whitley, D.M., & Sipe, T.A. (2001). A multimodal intervention for grandparents raising grandchildren: Results of an exploratory study. Child Welfare League of America, 80, 27-50.
29.
Kluger, M.P., & Aprea, D.M. (1999). Grandparents raising their grandchildren: A description of the families and a special pilot program. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 32, 5-17.
30.
Miller-Day, M.A. (2004). Communication among grandmothers, mothers, and adult daughters: A qualitative study of maternal relationships. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
31.
Minkler, M., Roe, K.M., & Robertson-Beckley, R.J. (1994). Raising grandchildren from crack cocaine households: Effects on family and friendship ties of African-American women. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 20-29.
32.
Musil, C.M., Schrader, S., & Mutikani, J. (2000). Social support, stress, and special coping tasks of grandmother caregivers. In C. B. Cox (Ed.), To grandmother's house we go and stay: Perspectives on custodial grandparents (pp. 56-70). New York: Springer.
33.
Penington, B.A. (2004). The communicative management of connection and autonomy in African American and European American mother-daughter relationships . The Journal of Family Communication, 4, 3-34.
34.
Rawlins, W.K. (1992). Friendship matters: Communication, dialectics, and the life course. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
35.
Spradley, J.P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
36.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park: SAGE.
37.
Strom, R.D., & Strom, S.K. (2000). Meeting the challenge of raising grandchildren . International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 51, 183-198.
38.
Thiele, D.M., & Whelan, T.A. (2006). The nature and dimensions of the grandparent role . Marriage and Family Review, 40(1), 93-108.
39.
Troll, L.E. (1983). Grandparents: The family watchdogs. In T. H. Brubaker (Ed.), Family relationships in later life (pp. 63-74). Bevery Hills, CA: SAGE.
40.
US Census Bureau, accessed September 29, 2004, at www.census.gov.
41.
Williams, A.J., & Nussbaum, J.F. (2001). Intergenerational communication across the life-span. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
42.
Williamson, J., Softas-Nall, B., & Miller, J. (2003). Grandmothers raising grandchildren: An exploration of their experiences and emotions. The Family Journal, 11, 23-32.
