A group of four widows undertook this research journey with me. They reflected on their widowhood experiences. Narrative and participatory practices guided our conversations. Participatory, contextual, postmodern, liberational feminist theology, poststructuralism and the social construction theory of reality informed this work. Reflective and summarising letters after each group meeting played a central part in the research. The letters were structured to make visible the "taken-for-granted" which informed the widows about who and what they are. The alternative stories of preferred widowhood practices that emerged during and between sessions were centralised in the letters. Elements of transformation, hope and empowerment surfaced as counter stories to the culture of oppression, providing the scaffolding for re-storying their lives. The group formed Chiedza Widows Association in order to support other widows who are still marginalised. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / (M.Th - Specialisation Pastoral Therapy))

Death is one of the few certainties in life. It comes to all of us, but the way in which we deal with it will vary according to a range of social and cultural factors. Based on my mother's experiences since being widowed, this dissertation has undertaken a qualitative research method to examine how Hindu widows express their mourning in their context, thereby defining their experiences of widowhood. The aim of this dissertation is to give voice to the mourning experiences of Hindu widows. By examining these constructions of mourning experiences, one is able to gain an understanding of grief from a cultural perspective, which may serve as a guide for professional counsellors and academics in their endeavours to provide much needed support and understanding for bereaved Hindu women. The epistemological framework is social constructionism. In this study five Hindu widows were interviewed with the intention of providing readers and fellow researchers with insight into their narratives, and the data was hermeneutically analysed. The participants' stories were interpreted and categorised into themes. This study allowed for elaborate and detailed descriptions about Hindu widows' experiences to surface, with the view that this study will broaden the way Hindu widowhood is thought of. Analyses reveals that within patriarchal society, Hindu widows appear inadequately prepared for their widowhood. As a result they experience financial, emotional and psychological difficulties, which make adjusting to widowhood a challenge. The perspective this study hopes to argue for is broader, inclusive, collaborative engagement and thinking in respect of Indian widowhood / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Dissertation is focused on widowhood of old women living in Czech Republic. The work shows specifics of old age especially flexibility to changes, quality and life meaningfulness in old age, covers marriage in old age and describes dealing with losses of partner in old age. It presents theme of dealing with losses in old age, describes processes and kinds of grief, mourning, rites and consultancy for the bereaved. Special attention is paid to handicapped old women status and risks related to it which could jeopardize them. Dissertation also delimits the term of widowhood and focuses on its specifics. Attention is paid to the other reasons of loneliness which are not related to widowhood. Theoretical chapters are supplemented with information from six detailed conversations with widows and also presents the author's own experience which she obtained from practice in retirement homes and from her presence in the voluntary organization "Kavárnička dříve narozených".

La recherche en écologie comportementale est affectée par un biais notoire en faveur des oiseaux des zones tempérées, en dépit de la plus grande diversité des espèces tropicales et des conditions naturelles radicalement éloignées qui rendent les connaissances sur les espèces tempérées peu pertinentes pour les espèces tropicales.Nous proposons de combler le manque d’informations concernant les oiseaux tropicaux via l’étude d’une espèce socialement monogame, se reproduisant et défendant un territoire toute l’année, la Tourterelle à queue carrée, Zenaida aurita. Pour commencer, nous avons cherché à déterminer le caractère sexuellement mono- ou dichromatique de la coloration du plumage et si celui-ci reflétait la qualité individuelle. Nous avons ensuite exploré les patterns d’appariements au sein des couples selon le degré d’hétérozygotie et la taille du corps. Afin d’établir la force des liens du couple, nous avons évalué le taux de divorce, les hypothèses pouvant expliquer les cas répertoriés, et les conséquences du changement de partenaire. Ceci a été suivi par la caractérisation des rôles des sexes au sein des couples selon diverses activités. Des analyses de capture-marquage-recapture ont permis d’estimer le taux de survie ainsi que l’influence du degré d’hétérozygotie et de la taille de l’aile sur la survie. La Tourterelle à queue carrée paraît suivre les spécificités comportementales, écologiques et démographiques caractérisant les espèces tropicales à monogamie pérenne / Research in avian behavioral ecology is affected by a known bias in favour of temperate species despite the greatest diversity of tropical species and the radically remote natural conditions which make knowledge of temperate species hardly relevant to tropical species.We propose to reduce the lack of information about tropical birds through the study of a socially monogamous species, reproducing and defending an all-purpose territory all year round, the Zenaida dove, Zenaida aurita. We used monitoring data from a population of ringed birds in Barbados for six years. First, we focused on plumage coloration both to ascertain their sexually mono- or dichromatic nature and whether plumage colour reflects individual quality. We then explored pairing patterns in relation to genome-wide heterozygosity and body size (tarsus length, wing chord). To determine the strength of pair bonding, we assessed divorce rate, evaluated which hypotheses could explain divorce cases and listed the consequences of mate loss and mate switching. It was followed by the characterization of sex roles within pairs during various activities (singing, nest building, juvenile care, territorial defence). Capture-mark-recapture analysis allowed us to estimate survival rate as well as influence of heterozygosity degree and wing chord on individual survival. Zenaida dove appears to conform to the behavioral, ecological and demographic features characterizing tropical species with perennial monogamy

Introdução: A morte do cônjuge representa diversos desafios a serem enfrentados por mulheres, especialmente nos primeiros seis meses. O enfrentamento deste processo, comumente predispõe a declínios da saúde e impacta a vida cotidiana. Para sua compreensão, destaca-se o \"Modelo do Processo Dual do Luto\", o qual pressupõe que um dos fatores estressores que os viúvos precisam lidar são os orientados para a restauração. Estes incluem o engajamento em atividades cotidianas que não se relacionam diretamente à perda, sendo singular e dependente do significado atribuído pela pessoa a estas atividades. Objetivo: Conhecer os significados atribuídos às atividades cotidianas relacionadas ao enfrentamento orientado para a restauração de mulheres após a morte por câncer, em até seis meses, do cônjuge idoso. Metodologia: Trata-se de estudo qualitativo, do tipo exploratório e descritivo. Constitui-se como população alvo do estudo, viúvas: do sexo feminino; que mantinham relacionamento com o falecido por meio de casamento ou união estável; residentes no Estado de São Paulo; cujos cônjuges, falecidos de 2 a 6 meses em decorrência de câncer, tinham acima de 60 anos e foram atendidos pela equipe do Núcleo de Cuidados Paliativos do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, no período de maio a outubro de 2015. As viúvas que aceitaram participar do estudo foram convidadas para uma entrevista individual, que ocorreu entre outubro e dezembro de 2015. Para sua condução, foi utilizado um roteiro semi-estruturado que buscava conhecer se os participantes realizavam ou pensavam em realizar atividades cotidianas relacionadas ao enfrentamento orientado para a restauração, e quais os significados que atribuíam a seu desempenho. O conteúdo das entrevistas foi gravado, transcrito e posteriormente analisado pelo processo de codificação, gerando temas abrangentes. Resultados: Identificou-se um primeiro tema nos resultados que se relacionou aos fatores que influenciavam no significado das atividades cotidianas relacionadas ao enfrentamento orientado para a restauração, os quais foram: a) sofrimento decorrente da percepção da ausência do marido no cotidiano; b) desempenho do papel de cuidadora; c) percepção negativa sobre a qualidade do relacionamento prévio com o cônjuge; d) participação nas circunstâncias que envolveram o óbito e nos processos decisórios de tratamento no período de adoecimento do cônjuge; e) apoio da rede informal e a presença de animais de estimação; f) espiritualidade. O segundo tema que emergiu dos resultados se referiu ao relato das entrevistadas sobre sua participação nas entrevistas conduzidas nesta tese. Discussão: O reconhecimento dos fatores que influenciavam no significado das atividades cotidianas favorece a reflexão sobre o apoio prestado às viúvas após a morte do cônjuge, especialmente ao se considerar que as mulheres se beneficiam mais de intervenções com ênfase no enfrentamento orientado para restauração. Entende-se que estudos que utilizam entrevistas como procedimento de coleta de dados podem beneficiar o enfrentamento do processo de luto dos participantes, pois potencialmente os auxiliam a elaborarem as experiências vivenciadas. Conclusão: Acredita-se que esta tese represente avanços na compreensão acerca do engajamento em atividades cotidianas no processo de luto, o que favorece a abordagem em Cuidados Paliativos prestada aos familiares após o óbito do paciente / Introduction: The death of the spouse represents several challenges to be faced by bereaved widows, mainly during the first six months. It commonly predisposes to health decline with impact in daily life. To understand the grieving process the \"Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement\" is highlighted. To this theoretical model, one of the types of stressor that the widows have to deal with is the restoration-oriented. It includes the involvement in daily activities that are not related to loss. This involvement is unique depending on the meaning given by the person to daily activities. Objective: To know the meaning attributed to daily activities focused on restoration by women after the death of their elderly spouse due to cancer, up to six months after death. Method: It is a qualitative exploratory and descriptive study. Its target population is constituted by widows: a) female; b) who had a relationship with the deceased exclusively through marriage or stable union; c) residing in São Paulo state; d) whose spouses have died within the past 2-6 months due to cancer and were over the age of 60; e) and whose spouses had been attended by the Palliative Care Service of The Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo Medical School during the period May- October 2015. The spouses that agree to participate in the study were invited to a private interview, which occurred from October to December 2015. To its conduction a semi-structured guideline was used which aimed to know if the participants took part or thought about taking part in restoration-oriented daily activities, and the meaning they attribute to them. The content of the interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the coding process. Comprehensive themes emerged from this process. Results: A first theme was identified on the results related to the influencing factors upon the meaning of daily activities focused on restoration which were: a) distress resulting from the perception of the husband\'s absence in daily life; b) caretaker role performance; c) negative perception about the quality of the previous relationship with the spouse; d) participation in the circumstances that involved the spouse\'s death and in the decisionmaking procedures of treatment during his illness; e) support from the informal network and the presence of pet animals; f) spirituality. The second theme that emerged from the results referred to the interviewees\' report about their participation in the interviews conducted in this thesis. Discussion: The recognition of the influencing factors upon the meaning attributed to daily activities gives opportunity for reflection on the support given to widows after their spouses\' death, especially taken into account that women benefit more from interventions focused on restoration. It is understood that studies using interviews as data collecting procedure can benefit the participants facing the bereavement, since it can potentially help them to elaborate their experiences. Conclusion: It is believed that this thesis represents advances in the understanding about the involvement in daily activities during bereavement, what helps the Palliative Care provided to the family after the patient death

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Death is one of the few certainties in life. It comes to all of us, but the way in which we deal with it will vary according to a range of social and cultural factors. Based on my mother's experiences since being widowed, this dissertation has undertaken a qualitative research method to examine how Hindu widows express their mourning in their context, thereby defining their experiences of widowhood. The aim of this dissertation is to give voice to the mourning experiences of Hindu widows. By examining these constructions of mourning experiences, one is able to gain an understanding of grief from a cultural perspective, which may serve as a guide for professional counsellors and academics in their endeavours to provide much needed support and understanding for bereaved Hindu women. The epistemological framework is social constructionism. In this study five Hindu widows were interviewed with the intention of providing readers and fellow researchers with insight into their narratives, and the data was hermeneutically analysed. The participants' stories were interpreted and categorised into themes. This study allowed for elaborate and detailed descriptions about Hindu widows' experiences to surface, with the view that this study will broaden the way Hindu widowhood is thought of. Analyses reveals that within patriarchal society, Hindu widows appear inadequately prepared for their widowhood. As a result they experience financial, emotional and psychological difficulties, which make adjusting to widowhood a challenge. The perspective this study hopes to argue for is broader, inclusive, collaborative engagement and thinking in respect of Indian widowhood / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Among the AmaXhosa the death of a person is marked by a tradition called ukuzila - the equivalent of the mourning process. As a sign of spousal mourning, and to show respect, the remaining spouse has to put on a marker (be visible). However, it is mostly the woman who is under obligation to show her mourner status by wearing ‘clothes of mourning’. The discriminatory nature of the practice, especially pertaining to visibility and some of the detrimental effects on the widows’ health and safety have been documented by some researchers, but the reasons for the continuity of visibility remain largely unexplored. Taking into account the dynamic nature of ‘culture’, this research explored the discourses deployed in men and women’s constructions of ukuzila specifically focusing on spousal mourning and the continuity of widows’ visibility in spite of their resistance to it. The research used postcolonial feminism drawing on postructuralism as its theoretical lens. This theoretical lens provided useful concepts such as hybridity, visibility, surveillance and power with which to examine spousal mourning and conceptualised people’s subject positions as multiple, fluid and contingent. Furthermore, the research employed thematic and discourse analysis at its methodology. Discourse analysis was employed to identify and analyse the discourses utilised in the constructions of spousal mourning. The research was conducted through focus group discussions held with younger and older urban and rural men and women, as well as interviews held with widows and widowers and key cultural informants. Concerning the question of constructions of spousal mourning for men and women, visibility of the mourner emerged as a central and contentious issue. Some participants were of the view that one could show mourning by engaging in culturally appropriate mourning behaviour, whilst others were of the view that showing one’s mourning had to be visible by publicly displaying mourning through a marker. Another group proposed mourning “by heart”, whereby the mourners’ status could either be inferred from their behaviour, whereas others maintained that behaviour was not mandatory. Various justifications for the continued visibility of widows were advanced. These justifications included showing love and respect to the deceased husband; showing respect to the ancestors; and helping to monitor their own behaviour in order to ensure that it is in line with appropriate mourning behaviour. The continued visibility of widows was also used to regulate the widows’ sexuality. Widows were coerced to put on ‘clothes of mourning’ in order to ‘protect’ them from being approached by men for a relationship during the mourning period. The regulation of the movement of widows was also managed through visibility. Widows’ movements were restricted in order to protect the community from pollution or bad luck. For example, they were not allowed to visit places of entertainment or visit other households. Key discourses identified were the familial-‘ukwenda’, respect-‘hlonipha’, and male sexual drive (MSD) discourse. The familial - ‘ukwenda’ discourse is centred on the idea that one is ‘married to the household’, which includes the nuclear family and wider extended family including ancestors. According to the respect-‘hlonipha’ discourse, respect is due to others on the basis of their age, status, and more especially their gender. Showing respect (hlonipha) necessitates the avoidance of all forms of behaviour and utterances that could be deemed disrespectful. The MSD holds a widespread view of sexuality as a biological drive that resides within each male and it was drawn on to make sense of discontinued visibility among widowers, whilst visibility of widows continued. It is argued that it is these discourses, embedded in the ‘culture’ of the AmaXhosa and upheld by the family that sustain the discriminatory nature of the practice, especially concerning the continued visibility of widows in spite of the resistance that has been voiced.

This study was conducted on the mourning rituals of the AmaXhosa widows of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study focused on the descriptive presentation of the experiences of the AmaXhosa widows in the Buffalo City municipality of the Province. The study sought to establish the widows’ perceptions regarding the mourning rituals and to interpret their experiences within the context of contemporary cultural, religious, gender and socio-political influences. The experiences among the widows interviewed were found to have a similar context but their perceptions about the mourning rituals were different between the widows younger than 40 years and those older than 50 years. Widows from urban and rural areas of East London, Mdantsane Township and from within a 60 kilometre radius of East London were interviewed. Purposive random sampling was used to identify an equal number of either urban or rural voluntary participants for the study. Structured interviews were held with widows ranging in age from 29 to 91 years. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the recorded discussions was conducted. The experiences of the AmaXhosa widows during the conduct of the mourning rituals are described. The key findings of the study indicated that most of the widows felt they had to go through the mourning rituals mainly to show respect for their departed husbands and so that the dignity of the family and clan was maintained. The mourning rituals seemed mostly to have negative implications for the widows such as a lack of family and financial support and being treated as social outcasts; however the rituals also seemed to help the women adjust to their new status as widows. Although the mourning rituals were embedded in the socio-cultural tradition generally followed by the AmaXhosa, religious beliefs also influenced some of the traditions by introducing changes in the way some widows conducted the mourning rituals. For example, some religions advocated for shorter periods of mourning than usual as well as wearing different types of mourning clothes from the usual black or purple dress. Overall the perceptions of the older widows aged above 50 years revealed that they had no reservations about performing the mourning rituals and quite readily and unquestioningly accepted the customs. The younger widows aged below 40 years on the other hand felt that the mourning rituals were biased against women and did not serve a useful purpose and even proposed changes to the manner in which the mourning rituals are conducted particularly the shortening of the mourning period from 12 to 6 months or less. However, they seemed to recognize the role played by the mourning ritual in lessening and possibly healing the pain and sorrow caused by their bereavement.