My Child’s Journey Home: Perspectives of Adult Family Members on the Separation and Reunification of the “Disappeared” Children of El Salvador | Zendy

Elizabeth S. Barnert | Zendy; Nathalie Lopez | Zendy; Philippe Bourgois | Zendy; Gery W. Ryan | Zendy; Paul J. Chung | Zendy; Eric Stover | Zendy

Open Access

My Child’s Journey Home: Perspectives of Adult Family Members on the Separation and Reunification of the “Disappeared” Children of El Salvador

Author(s) -

Elizabeth S. Barnert,

Nathalie Lopez,

Philippe Bourgois,

Gery W. Ryan,

Paul J. Chung,

Eric Stover

Publication year - 2019

Publication title -

human rights quarterly

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.277

H-Index - 66

eISSN - 1085-794X

pISSN - 0275-0392

DOI - 10.1353/hrq.2019.0004

Subject(s) - separation (statistics) , politics , family reunification , spanish civil war , developmental psychology , psychology , political science , law , immigration , machine learning , computer science

This article explores family separation and reunification of the disappeared Salvadoran children separated from their families during El Salvador's civil war (1980-1992) from the perspectives of adult relatives. During separation, adult relatives experienced an "unresolvable loss." Following reunion, families experienced an immediate relief that was often accompanied by an "ambiguous reunification." Emotions were especially complicated and painful when the separation had been a "forced choice" by the parent under coercive wartime political conditions. Adoptive parents strongly influenced reunification. Findings suggest that disappeared children and biological and adoptive family members need psycho-social support throughout separation and reunification.

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