Grandfather/grandchild relationship when there are family conflicts

Abstract

In recent times, society has undergone changes, which have carried out an in-depth analysis of family relationships, being the relabetween grandparents and grandchildren the one that has been of most interest to researchers in recent decades due to its transcendence grandparents have in the lives of their grandchildren, creating a special relationship between them that is not established with any other member of the family unit. The family can be understood as a set or structured system, among them there are ties and affective relationships, sharing common goals, objectives and projects, creating a unit that allows the distribution of functions and controls among its members, making a change in a from the consequences it reverberates in the other consequences, the changes suffered in the society, the grandparents have acquired a great importance in the family relationships, specifically in the relationship with their grandchildren. In order to know family relationships, especially between grandparents and grandchildren, the difficulties of this relationship in situations of family breakdown, the rights of grandparents about their grandchildren and the knowledge of grandparents as well as the resources affected in terms of families. A study with a qualitative phenomenological design was carried out through a questionnaire in a sample of 46 participants, grandparents in Gran Canaria, aged between 58 and 85 years, with 67% of women, relationship with child at the most good at 54.3%, good 34.7% and fair 10.8%. It is concluded that the main difficulty to maintain an optimal relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is the separation/divorce of their children, which is why it is repeated on many occasions to the judicial route.