Square pegs in round holes? leave periods and role displacement in UK-based seafaring families

This article reports findings of an exploratory study examining the impact of intermittent partner absence on couple relationships and family life. Drawing on data collected through in-depth interviews with seafarers and their partners, it considers the period when the seafarer is home on leave to examine the salience of the ‘breadwinner’ role to contemporary masculine identity and explore and contrast the experiences of seafarers at home on leave to that of unemployed men. The article concludes that during the seafarers’ leave periods, the experience of sea-faring families has many parallels with that of unemployed men and their families. While seafarers do not lose their ‘breadwinner’ role, they experience considerable problems associated with loss of role during their leave period, and frequently experience a sense of ‘role displacement’ where they feel redundant, unnecessary and essentially ‘outsiders’ in relation to their families.