Single motherhood has become increasingly common and yet very little research examines how women themselves experience the transition into single motherhood, thus their life stories remain largely unchronicled. This study explores the lived experience of transition from motherhood within a married or co-habiting couple to single motherhood for professional working mothers. The study is idiographic and qualitative and it is grounded in the detailed accounts of individual women going through the transition, prioritising their own view of the experience. Six professional women took part in semi structured interviews, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to analyse the material. Three superordinate themes were identified; the first highlighted the emotional turmoil the women experienced , in the initial phase of transition, in relation to personal, familial and social consequences that divorce might have on them and their children. The second theme detailed the women's actual experiences of these consequences and their effects following divorce, with the most notable finding being that the women concurrently held ambivalent or conflicting feelings about their experience. The third superordinate theme pertained to the social stigma and stereotyping that the women encountered throughout the transitional process. Existing literature on life transitions, motherhood and single motherhood was used in order to discuss the findings. The findings revealed that after a great deal of emotional struggle women satisfactorily negotiated and adapted to their new single mother status. The outcome of this study has implementations for clinical work with professional women as it highlights the benefits of allowing them to become aware of and examine the possible transitions that might arise from ambivalent feelings as they make the transition from married to single motherhood.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:683436 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Batalovic, Milena |
| Publisher | Regent's University London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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