The Implications and Repercussions of Parental Divorce on College Students and their Recent, Current, and Future Romantic Relationships

Abstract

Our semester-long assignment for Qualitative Research Methods is one that has changed each of us in profound ways. Each person being motivated by a different curiosity, our group effectively used its own experiences with parental divorce in order to shed light on others' experiences. We interviewed Goucher undergraduates and analyzed their stories of parental divorce using the phenomenological design, which finds themes in seemingly distinct narratives. Through these themes, we were able to connect many of their current life choices with their past experiences. A parental divorce is a powerful life event that could possibly cause an infinite number of emotions and changes. Through our work, we hope to show that while each person's situation is different, many of the emotions, such as shame, guilt, apprehension, and fear, remain the same.