A QUALITATIVE EXAMINATION OF DEATH OF A SPOUSE AND BEREAVEMENT

Date

2024-4

Author

Minçe, Gizem

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Losing a loved one has always been seen as a painful experience. The death of a spouse, who is the person with whom the person plans to spend his life together, certainly has an important impact on the one who is left behind. In addition, being a young woman who has lost her husband has many attributes in Turkish culture, which are mainly formed around the phenomenon of a woman who is a “widow”. The present study aimed to examine women's experiences of partner loss in early life from a psychoanalytic point of view and to investigate the narrative of their lives after the loss. In this context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women who had lost their spouse by natural means or by accident before the age of 45. The data obtained from these interviews were examined by utilizing the thematic analysis method through the MAXQDA software program. Five main themes were created in line with the results. The themes consist of the role of the husband, the unspeakable: death, what is lost with loss, ways to cope with death, being a “widow”. The themes have been discussed within the framework of psychoanalytic literature, and the place of “widow‟” discourse in the Turkish culture has been presented. Finally, how these findings can be evaluated in clinical practice has been discussed and some suggestions for future studies have been presented.

Subject Keywords

Spouse loss, Bereavement, Widowhood, Thematic Analysis, Psychoanalysis

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/109177

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis