Conflict Resolution Strategies Adopted from Parenting Coordination: Assisting High-Conflict Coparenting Students

This article examines the challenges faced by nontraditional college students who are coparents as a result of divorce. The need for college counseling centers to have counseling options designed to assist this special population in successfully completing their academic pursuits is presented. Conflict resolution techniques based on the Parenting Coordination model are offered to help these students deal with the challenges of coparenting responsibilities. Keywords: conflict resolution, divorce, coparenting ********** Divorce, although often seen as an exceptional event, is actually be coming a normative experience for the U.S. population as a whole. In 2002, the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that 43% of first marriages will end in divorce (see Bramlett & Mosher, 2002). According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2005), one out of five adults has been divorced. Although the degree and intensity of how couples disengage from relationships may vary (Goldstein & Harknett, 2006), a significant number of divorces can be categorized as high-conflict cases (Mitcham-Smith & Henry, 2007). Characteristics that typically define high-conflict divorce include the challenges of coparenting, a lack of trust between parents, elevated anger levels, a tendency to see things in black-and-white/all-or-none, and a willingness to enter a cycle of litigation (Ramsey, 2001). Coparents are two individuals sharing (not necessarily equal) responsibilities of parenting as they transition from being a couple to being divorced or separated with children (Feinberg, 2003). How these two people relate in their role as parent of the child or children from their previous union is a function of coparenting. Despite the high rate of divorce among the general U.S. population of adults, Garvin (2006) noted a paucity of research in the area of marital dissolution among postsecondary, nontraditional students. Divorce among college students with children creates an enormous amount of stress that often leads to delay in degree completion and diminishes overall academic success (Garvin, 2006). In addition to balancing the typical demands of college life, the divorced, coparenting college student with children is faced with additional Stressors concerning coparenting issues. These Stressors revolve around the coparenting couple's children and include issues such as daily communication, debates over the children's belongings, logistics of drop-offs and pick-ups, extracurricular activities, child support disagreements, and visitation or contact schedules (Henry & Mitcham-Smith, 2008). In cases of high-conflict divorce, the coparenting issues typically dealt with in marital dissolution are exacerbated. High-conflict divorce breeds inability to communicate, compromises decision-making ability, and creates paralyzing anger and resentment in the personal position of coparents, which may challenge them from acting as a united front in the best interest of the children (Mitcham, Butler, Portman, & Figliozzi, 2011). Because many college students may be challenged by high-conflict divorce issues that could impede their academic success, new strategies are needed for college counseling centers to address nontraditional college students' coparenting issues. The definition of a nontraditional college student is ambiguous throughout the literature and varies from institution to institution. The nontraditional college student may be defined as a student who is 25 years or older, has obtained a level of maturity because of life experiences and responsibilities, and is financially independent (Kasworm, 2003). The nontraditional student may further be defined as a first-generation college student or a student of color, with disabilities, or from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds (Bundy & Smith, 2004). The nontraditional student may have delayed enrollment, attends college on a part-time basis, and works full time (Choy, 2002; Wirt et al. …