The enactment of relational maintenance when Guatemalan parents are forcibly separated from their families due to deportation

This study examines how parents deported to Guatemala from the United States (U.S.) use relational maintenance strategies to preserve relationships with their family living in the U.S. In a context of forced separation where family reunification is severely constrained, this study considers economic, social, and cultural impacts on individuals’ abilities to engage in relational maintenance. Interviews conducted in Guatemala with parents having previously been deported from the U.S. were coded and analyzed using contextualist thematic analysis. Findings revealed that relational maintenance is crucial to family preservation, with parents relying on assurances, positivity, advice-giving, and social networks to maintain a sense of relational continuity and their own position of influence within the family. Parents faced barriers to enacting strategies of shared tasks, openness, and conflict management. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.