Adolescents’ narratives about parents’ separation processes and participation in mandatory family mediation: Exercising agency through managing privacy boundaries

Abstract

Children’s participation in mandatory family mediation is an aspect of parents’ separation process in Norway. In this article, we aim to explore what adolescents emphasise in their narratives about their participation. Eleven adolescents aged between 12 and 17 participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management theory, the results show that, during participation in mandatory family mediation, adolescents are provided with opportunities to exercise agency by managing privacy boundaries. Family mediators have the potential to assist adolescents during and after disclosures of private information.