When Family Relationships Continue but Their Meaning Changes: The RENACER Model of Perceived Relational Meaning Asymmetry, Enduring Relational Grief, and Reconstruction of Belonging

Family relationships can change deeply even when family members continue living together, communicating, and participating in one another’s lives. When someone experiences broken trust, emotional hurt, or a lack of support, they may begin to see a family relationship differently. Yet other relatives may continue behaving as though nothing has changed, expecting the same closeness, loyalty, responsibilities, or trust as before. This difference can leave individuals feeling misunderstood, emotionally disconnected, and grieving a relationship that still exists. This article introduces RENACER, an integrative conceptual framework designed to explain how individuals experience and navigate changes in family relationships that are not fully recognized or acknowledged by others. RENACER identifies seven interconnected domains: Relational Expectations, Expectation Violation, Nonrecognition, Asymmetry in Relational Meaning, Cultural-Relational Reappraisal, Enduring Relational Grief, and Reconstruction of Self and Belonging. At the center of the framework is Perceived Relational Meaning Asymmetry (PRMA), which describes the experience of understanding a family relationship differently from how relatives continue to communicate, behave, and maintain expectations within that relationship. RENACER considers how multigenerational living arrangements, economic interdependence, caregiving responsibilities, and cultural commitments can make physical distancing difficult or undesirable. The framework challenges the assumption that personal autonomy and family loyalty are mutually exclusive, proposing that healthy individuation, self-respect, and boundaries can coexist with family connection and collectivist values. Drawing on social work, family science, and clinical psychology, RENACER offers theoretical propositions, testable hypotheses, implications for social work practice, and directions for future research on relational grief, identity, and belonging when family relationships continue but their meaning changes.