Estranged students in Further (FE) and Higher Education (HE) - experiences: literature review

4. Contexts of estrangement

While trajectories to estrangement are highly individual and complex, research shows that there is a pattern of specific contexts from which family breakdown emerges (Blake, 2017). In a survey of estranged students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, responses centred around four key reasons: undisclosed abuse in the family; issues with new step-parents after divorce and re-marriage; generational clashes of values and beliefs with immigrant family members, and differences in personalities and values (Bland and Blake, 2020). Earlier research undertaken for Stand Alone (Bland, et al., 2015) found that emotional abuse was the most common, followed by mismatched expectations about family roles and relationships, clashes of personality or values, neglect, issues relating to mental health problems, and traumatic family events.

There is broadly a consensus across the research regarding the age at which estrangement typically occurs, with most becoming estranged in their late teens, between the ages of 16-19 (Bland, 2015; Bland and Shaw, 2015; Commissioner for Fair Access, 2020). Together these studies highlight the way in which a clash of values between parent and child intersects with age, as young people gain more independence as they reach adulthood.

Several studies have explored the ways in which abusive familial relationships contribute to the process of estrangement in the UK (Blake, et al., 2015; Spacey and Sanderson, 2021; Matthews, et al., 2018). In a qualitative study of eight estranged students at the University of Lincoln, abuse or neglect by a family member was a key factor in participants' decisions to distance themselves from their parents (Spacey and Sanderson, 2021). These studies highlight a complex interaction between various influences, such as abuse and mismatched values that shape familial relationships and cause a permanent relationship breakdown.

The literature highlights the link between estrangement and protected characteristics. This is particularly the case with regards to sexuality and gender identity, with studies illustrating how parents' homophobia and transphobia can culminate in estrangement. A survey of 1700 students attending two universities in Sheffield in 2018 found LGBT students were twice as likely to have a distanced relationship with their family compared to all students, and were also twice as likely to report that family contact was a negative experience (Bland and Stevenson, 2018). Two small qualitative studies undertaken in Scotland with LGBTQ+ people (not students) shed light on the links between 'coming out' and being rejected by one's family, which led some LGBTQ+ participants to become homeless (Nugent, et al., 2020; Matthews, et al., 2018). Interviews with 20 LGBTQ+ people in Scotland illustrated how familial rejection of trans people could be linked to longer-term emotional abuse, and could lead to escalations in abuse which forced people to leave home (Matthews, et al., 2018).

The research also points towards other protected characteristics associated with estrangement such as religious belief, culture and ethnicity. For example, some studies highlight links between forced marriage and estrangement. However, as Taylor and Costa (2020a) note there is a gap with regards to how students' experiences of estrangement differ depending on their sexuality, gender identity and ethnicity (Spacey, 2019; Taylor and Costa, 2019a; Blake, 2017).

Wider social factors have also been found to play a role in influencing estrangement. Scotland's Commissioner for Fair Access cited social class as the main influence on inequality which, he said, impacted the likelihood of estrangement, particularly for young people from the most deprived backgrounds (2020). In contrast, survey research by Stand Alone (2014) found that estrangement permeated 'all types of families'. They found that 35% of those who earned at least £30,000 per year said they were estranged or knew someone who was estranged, compared to the UK average of 27%. They also found that the highest earners were more likely to know a family member who had cut contact, with 17% of the group reporting this, compared to the UK average of 12%. Another survey by Stand Alone of 1600 people reported that estrangement was more likely to occur in families where a breakdown in relationship was common (Blake, et al., 2015).