Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren

Grandparents who raise their grandchildren have become more prevalent as an alternate family form that is, by its very nature, intergenerational in character. This paper explores the state of our knowledge about such grandparents in light of the following themes: (1) the diversity among grandparent caregivers, (2) the importance of social support for such persons and the impact of raising a grandchild on relationships with others, (3) theoretical perspectives on grandparents raising their grandchildren, (4) the salience of issues related to parenting among grandparent caregivers, and (5) interventions with custodial grandparents. The implications of these issues for current and future cohorts of grandparent caregivers are discussed, as are directions that future work with such grandparents might take in light of these issues. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.