Families facing the Italian lockdown: Temporal adjustments and new caring practices in shared physical custody arrangements

Abstract: Objective: This paper investigates the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 related Spring Lockdown in Italy on families practicing shared physical custody (SPC) arrangements for their children. Background: Those family configurations partly challenge the dominant 'mother as main carer model' that characterizes Italian society. Here, we consider the lockdown as a "challenge-trial" to analyze the strategies that these families have developed to cope with lockdown, and to reveal the overarching structures that contributed to shape this experience of lockdown. Method: We draw on semi-structured interviews with 19 parents (9 fathers and 10 mothers), part of 12 families practicing SPC. Results: We propose a typology of custody re-organizations during lockdown and how this affected the division of parental involvement based on a) change/no change in sleepover calendars in favor of mother/father; and b) similar/different arrangements for siblings – a new practice that emerged and also has implicat.... https://ubp.uni-bamberg.de/jfr/index.php/jfr/article/view/724

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Families facing the Italian lockdown: Temporal adjustments and new caring practices in shared physical custody arrangements ; volume:34 ; number:1 ; year:2022 ; Journal of family research ; 34, Heft 1 (2022)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Merla, Laura ; Murru, Sarah

Further information

• DOI: 10.20377/jfr-724-619
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024030719440252694589
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:58 AM CEST