“I Thought That We Could Nurture the Nature Out of Our Son”: Making Meaning of Parenting in the Narratives of Parents of Children in Residential Treatment

Enrolling a child in residential treatment for behavioral or emotional disorders is often considered a last resort for parents and can be accompanied by feelings of desperation and failure. Coupled with social discourse inexorably linking parenting with mental health outcomes, parents might experience stigma as they seek support for themselves and their children. Thus, this study implements relational dialectics theory to explore the meaning of parenting from the perspective of parents who have enrolled a child in a residential treatment program. Contrapuntal analysis of six interviews revealed two discourses competing to make meaning of parenting, the Discourse of Demanding Parenting Ideals (DDPI), consisting of two themes: relentless sacrifice and complete responsibility, whereas themes of boundary-setting and acceptance compose the Discourse of Realistic Best Effort (DRBE). Discursive interplay between these discourses occurred in the forms of diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and discursive transformation to make meaning of parenting.