Single-parent family strength: a phenomenological study

The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experience of strength within female-headed, single-parent families with school-aged children 2 or more years following separation or divorce. There is little research describing the healthy functioning of female-headed families. For the most part, the analysis of single-parent family functioning has been understood as a deviation from the norm because the norm has been determined by studying the conventional nuclear family experience. The divorce crisis may stimulate family growth and development in ways that are not available in the two-parent family system. Knowledge of the strength of the single-parent family system falls short. A phenomenological research design was used to explore the strength within single-parent families through in-depth conversational interviews with 4 mothers and their 8 children. Purposive and snowballing approaches were used to recruit participants for the study. The essential criteria for participating in the study were that the mothers and children must experience the phenomenon of strength and then be able to articulate and reflect on the experience. Each transcript of the mothers' and children's oral description of strength was analyzed using a phenomenological method. Nine essential themes were inducted from the data, and a fundamental structure of strength was developed. The experience of inner strength for the women in the study was gained by (a) introspecting to discover self; (b) emoting to develop an understanding of their real selves; (c) knowing, which grew out of their embeddedness in human relationships; (d) finding freedom to create their own destiny, as well as to shape their children's destiny; (e) gaining resilience in order to adjust, change, and overcome adversity; and (f) transcending the ordinary limits of ordinary experience and understanding. The women's strength sustained the family and is reflected in the following themes: (a) cocreating family harmony, (b) sharing family power, and (c) humane connecting. The research findings have implications for nursing practice, theory development, and research. In order to provide thoughtful, sensitive care to single-parent families, nurses must understand the strength of single-parent families so they can help them to assert control over conditions that affect their lives.

SINGLE-PARENT FAMILY STRENGTH: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY by Beverly A. Anderson A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Nursing The University of Utah June 1994 Copyright <0 Beverly A. Anderson 1994 All Rights Reserved THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH GRADUATE SCHOOL SUPERVISORY COl\I~'fITTEE APPRO\TAL of a dissertation submined by Beverly A. Anderson This dissertation has been read by each member of the following supervisory committee and by majority vote has been found to be satisfactory. ftl I I ( I q_5 I =. 'I .' (/ .~ r:tvl-C {(:~\ ( dlJ:d:: Janeen Costa Lee Walker THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH GRADUATE SCHOOL FINAL READING APPROVAL To the Graduate Council of the University of Utah: I have read the dissertation of Beverly A. Anderson in its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographic style are consistent and acceptable; (2) its illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final manuscript is satisfactory to the supervisory committee and is ready for submission to The Graduate School. Approved for the Major Department Li da K. Amos Chair/Dean Approved for the Graduate Council Ann W. Hart Dean of The Graduate School ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experience of strength within female-headed, single-parent families with school-aged children 2 or more years following separation or divorce. There is little research describing the healthy functioning of female-headed families. For the most part, the analysis of single-parent family functioning has been understood as a deviation from the norm because the norm has been determined by studying the conventional nuclear family experience. The divorce crisis may stimulate family growth and development in ways that are not available in the two-parent family system. Knowledge of the strength of the single-parent family system falls short. A phenomenological research design was used to explore the strength within single-parent families through in-depth conversational interviews with 4 mothers and their 8 children. Purposive and snowballing approaches were used to recruit participants for the study. The essential criteria for participating in the study were that the mothers and children must experience the phenomenon of strength and then be able to articulate and ret1ect on the experience. Each transcript of the mothers' and children's oral description of strength was analyzed using a phenomenological method. Nine essential themes were inducted from the data, and a fundamental structure of strength was developed. The experience of inner strength for the women in the study was gained by (a) introspecting to discover self; (b) emoting to develop an understanding of their real selves; (c) knowing, which grew out of their embedded ness in human relationships; (d) finding freedom to create their own destiny, as well as to shape their children's destiny; (e) gaining resilience in order to adjust, change, and overcome adversity; and (0 transcending the ordinary limits of ordinary experience and understanding. The women's strength sustained the family and is reflected in the following themes: (a) cocreating family harmony, (b) sharing family power, and (c) humane connecting. The research findings have implications for nursing practice, theory development, and research. In order to provide thoughtful, sensitive care to single-parent families, nurses must understand the strength of single-parent families so they can help them to assert control over conditions that affect their lives. v Dedicated to my younger brother, Greg, who has gone before me and led the way, until we meet again and to my parents, who taught nle about the joy of tears, and to succeed even in my darkest hours. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ......................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................. ix Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . 1 Background and Significance of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 II. THEORETICAL CONTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Introduction ...................................... 9 Personal Assumptions ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Rethinking the Concept of Families ....................... 14 From Divorce to Single-Parent Family: A Transition ............ 21 Divorce: Family System Adjustment ...................... 25 The Aftermath of Divorce ............................ 26 Pragmatic Issues and Financial Concerns ................... 32 Mother/Child Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Family Strength ................................... 34 III. METHODOLOGy............................ ..... 38 Introduction ..................................... 38 Phenomenology: An Historical Perspective .................. 39 Researching the Lived Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Study Participants ................................. 43 Generation of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Management and Analysis of the Data ..................... 53 Methodological Rigor ............................... 59 Ethical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Research Limitations ................................ 62 Summary ....................................... 63 Chapter Page IV. PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS .................... 64 Introduction ..................................... 64 The Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 The Findings .................................... 67 Fundamental Structure of Family Strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 115 V. DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 122 Discussion of Findings ............................. 122 Implications for Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research. . . . . . . .. 144 Recomnlendations for Further Study ..................... 149 Epilogue ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Appendices A. STUDY INVITATION 152 B. DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 154 C. INFORMED CONSENT FORM ....................... 156 D. INFORMED ASSENT ............................. 159 E. EXAMPLE OF SUBSTANTIVE DATA AND FORMULATED MEANINGS .................................... 162 F. FAMILY DRAWING BY MELODY ..................... 169 G. FAMILY DRAWINGS BY BOB AND NANCY .............. 171 H. FAMILY DRAWINGS BY ELIZABETH AND SHANE ......... 174 1. FAMILY DRAWINGS BY ANGELA, LORI, AND BEKKI ...... 177 REFERENCES ...................................... 181 Vin ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing this dissertation was exhilarating and exhausting, exhilarating because I have written about the strength of single-parent families and exhausting because I had to fit my writing into a life full of ups and downs, happiness and uncertainty, pain and loss. Writing this dissertation has impeded my family relationships and my friendships. For understanding that and supporting my writing, I would like to thank my family and especially my sister, Arnette. I am forever grateful for your understanding and belief in me, no matter what! I am grateful for my supervisory committee. Dr. Joy Princeton, my chairperson, gave generously of her time, talent, and support and provided me with meticulous and efficient feedback. My deep appreciation is extended to my colleague, Dr. Ritchie Dann, who believed in my strength and capabilities and prodded me gently in times of doubt. A special thanks to Drs. Cole, Costa, and Walker for your questions, support, and encouragement. I am especially thankful to the single-parent women and their children who provided me with the opportunity to learn about strength from their day-to-day experiences. You are extraordinary, ordinary families. A round of applause goes to the All But Dissertation (ABD) group-the members of whom were wonderful cheerleaders. A special thanks to each one of you who supported me, even though you were on the same journey. A special thanks is extf~nded to my Utah friends: Marty Rhea, Al Dohner, Mary Meadows, Jana Lauderdale, Judy Kiernan, and Mary Ann Johnson. You will always hold a special place in my heart. x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH What is perceived as the deterioration of the family and the redefinition of the family unit is one of the most challenging dilemmas facing nursing in the 1990s (Styles, 1990). Traditionally, the single-parent family has been defined in comparison to the intact-nuclear family; thus, a negative model has been used to describe the single-parent family (Mednick, 1987). Likewise, North Americans tend to look at the single-parent family in a somewhat negative way, and the nuclear family continues as the stereotypic "ideal" family form. There is no doubt that divorce can have devastating effects on the family. The divorce crisis, however, also may stimulate family growth and development in ways that are not available in the two-parent family system. These factors are not often considered, discussed, or researched. It is no longer acceptable to consider that intact-nuclear families are the only healthy families. Single-parent families are neither superior nor inferior to intact families; they are simply different. The" differences can become sources of strength, rather than symbols of failure" (West, 1986, p. 212). Consequently, it is important to explore the strength of single-parent families that contributes to healthy functioning of these family systems. A phenomenological design was used to explore the strength within single- parent family units 2 or more years following separation or divorce through interviews with mothers. In addition, interviews with their children aged 8 to 15 years old were conducted, and projective techniques were used as appropriate. This research focused on single-parent families in a major city in the province of Alberta, Canada. Backeround and Sienificance of the Problem The number of single-parent families has increased substantially in the last 2 decades. In 1990, 14% of all families in Canada were lone-parent fanlilies with children under 18 compared to 11 % in 1980. In 1990, 13% of all families in Alberta were lone-parent families compared to 9% in 1971 and 10% in 1980. In 1990, approximately 87% of lone-parent families were headed by women, and 2 13 % were headed by lone-male parents. The high rates of lone parenthood are due to separation, divorce, or childbirth outside of marriage (Premier's Council in Support of Alberta Families, 1992). With the growing number of divorces resulting in single-parent families, as well as the steadily increasing number of women in the work force, questions arise about whether the family is in crisis. A sense of crisis is derived from the prevailing view that the conventional or nuclear family is being lost, whereby father is the sole economic provider and mother is the homemaker who bears major responsibility for the socialization and nurturance of dependent children (Scanzoni, 1983). Some feminists also challenge prevalent assumptions about the ideological nuclear family as the only desirable and legitimate family form; that is, they associate this family form with the oppression of women. They argue that within the nuclear family structure women are in subordinate positions as they are "excluded from gaining direct access to valued resources such as income, recognized and status-giving work, and political authority" (Thome, 1982, p. 4). Moreover, women have little power within the nuclear family form, as they are dependent on their husbands for economic survival, their unpaid work at home is generally undervalued, and the work of mothering is accomplished in isolation to the detriment of mother and child (Thome, 1982). 3 According to Swidler (1980), new family patterns are emerging; that is, women are no longer the unique emotional center that they are or have been in the conventional family. Simultaneously, men are no longer the unique instrumental center that they are or have been in the conventional family. Either partner can earn money, engage in child care, and carry out household duties. Scanzoni (1983) believed that the nuclear family model is out of synchrony with the dynamic North American culture. Moreover, Popenoe (1988) speculated that the family career is moving toward a postnuclear trend. He argued that over time there has been a decline of paternal authority; partial removal of the nuclear family form with its kin-group embeddedness; a partial loss of family functions such as economic, religious, educational, and political; a decrease in family size; an emphasis on individualism; and an increase in affective relationships within the 4 family. Due to the aforementioned trends, he predicted that in advanced societies there will be an increase in the pursuit of individualism; marriages will cease to have any legal or social form, and more adult and social relationships may become random liaisons; norms of gender roles and socialization may be determined increasingly by people through their relationships; and child rearing may be taken over by agencies even more than currently. Consequently, fresh thinking is required about alternative models of family life and the relationships between family and society. The majority of research in the field of single parenting has been framed within the value context of father as economic provider: marriage and family are structured with strict roles and functions, and the nuclear family model is considered normal and other alternative models of family life are deviant (Mednick, 1987). The research emanating from this view looked for "assumed negative consequences of stability, satisfaction, well-being, mental health, adjustment, delinquency, and so forth for children and adults who deviated from this ideal form" (Scanzoni, Polonko, Teachman, & Thompson, 1989, p. 13). The prevailing view among numerous researchers and clinical practitioners is that the traditional nuclear family is the most desirable form of family organization, which subsequently leads to research agendas that focus on "structure as opposed to process, stability as opposed to change" (Scanzoni et al., 1989, p. 13). More specifically, the conception of the family as nuclear is inadequate and misleading when relied upon for an understanding of family dynamics. Uzoka 5 (1979) argued that the "basic unit of analysis must shift from a sociological family concept [the physically bounded household] to a psychological-affective transactional definition of the family network" (p. 1098). In other words, it is now more fruitful for researchers to consider the family dynamics as opposed to an emphasis only on family structure. Emphasis on family structure has resulted in using the deficit model to describe variant family forms. When traditional nuclear families are considered the ideal, deviations from this family form have resulted in viewing single-parent families in a negative, pathological way. An important shift must occur from considering only family structure to also exploring family dynamics and how family process can contribute to healthy family functioning. Different questions must be posed by researchers in order to capture the essence of family dynamics in variant family forms. The question must be asked in order to ascertain the essence of family life and the strength within single-parent families: What is the actual lived experience of family life? It is suggested that more than ever the family must endeavor to provide emotional support for family members. Society is becoming more impersonal because of urbanization, industrialization, and increased mobility, thus placing more strain on the family to meet one another's emotional needs (Spanier & Thompson, 1984). It is postulated that future changes for the family will not be seen in its structural arrangements or functional tasks. Changes will occur most likely in the dynamics of family interactions. Family relationships will change over time, and this will require family members to act toward each other differently, to meet each other's needs better than they have in the past, to communicate better about those needs, and to change habits to perform more adequately the familial function of emotional support. (Spanier & Thompson, 1984, p. 17) Nurses have been providing care to families for years even though family nursing care per se was not in vogue (Ham & Chamings, 1983). More recently there has been an increased emphasis by many nurses on the family as a unit of care and a significant context for an individual's health (Moriarty, 1990). The health care system is becoming more community based; consequently, it is necessary to study a family in its social context to determine the resources necessary to assist healthy family functioning. The impact of one's social context, especially human relationships with family members and others, has a powerful influence in meeting the demands of living (Pearson, 1990). In Phillips' (1990) essay on "The Different Views of Health," he stressed that "health involves all people" because "all people are interconnected" (p. 103). Phillips further argued that the "manifestations of the wholeness of health go beyond the biopsychosocial aspects of a person to the interconnectedness of people" (p. 103). It is of the utmost importance that nurse researchers move beyond the traditional view of health and illness and study people experiencing 6 their "sense of interconnectedness with others, and specifically how health emerges from a mutual process" (p. 103). With the increased interest in fan1ily nursing, family research has emerged as an important area for nursing science. Consequently, nurse researchers are 7 faced with the formidable task of measurement relative to the family as a whole rather than the sum of its parts. Sonle problems have been encountered with using quantitative designs in family research: that is, there is disagreement on what constitutes family research; methods available to operationalize family concepts are few; there is limited evidence of the validity of family assessment tools; and there are limited quantitative measures that reflect norms for different populations (Moriarty, 1990). Gilliss (1989) recognized that one's understanding of family nursing research is in the infancy stage and "we are not sufficiently prepared to experiment" (p. 45). Prior to quantitative family studies, nurse researchers must understand and delineate concepts central to family nursing. Gilliss (1991) argued that there are barriers that impede family concept development in family nursing because nurse researchers do not clearly identify the unit of analysis. It is of utmost importance to identify clearly what is an individual perspective in contrast to a family perspective. She further elaborated that data collection and analytic techniques in family research are primitive and need refinement. Qualitative approaches to family research are advocated by Moriarty (1990) when the goal of research is "to discover or to explore family processes, relationships or characteristics" (p. 3). Furthermore, she believed that qualitative approaches generate rich data around the subjective experiences of families, which lead to increased understanding of family dynamics. Contextual variables contlibute to the richness of the data. Finally, she postulated that the outcomes of qualitative studies are important for family nursing theory development. 8 Research Questions An understanding of the ways in which families manage difficult life events is crucial for community health, family,and parent-child nurses who care for women and children who face a variety of crises as a result of separation and! or divorce. For the most part, current knowledge and research about the transition from a nuclear family to a single-parent family constellation explicate the negative aspects of this life experience. Knowledge is limited in terms of how single-parent families creatively redefine who and what they are and how they navigate successfully the transition from a dual-parent family system to a single-parent family system. Moreover, there is little known about the internal strength of the female-headed, single-parent family following separation and divorce. The research questions for this study are as follows: From the perspective of school-aged children (8 to 15 years old) and their mothers who have been separated or divorced for 2 or more years, (a) what is the lived experience of strength within single-parent families, (b) what do single-parent mothers perceive as their family strength in everyday life, and (c) what do children perceive as their family strength in everyday life? CHAYfER II THEORETICAL CONTEXT Introduction The major thrust of phenomenological research is to question what a phenomenon is really like: What is it like to experience the phenomenon? Van Manen (1990) stated, "To truly question something is to interrogate something from the heart of our existence, from the center of our being" (p. 43). Furthermore, it is important to ground the study by asking: How does the current form of knowledge contribute to the question? How do the current theories/concepts gloss over one's understanding of the phenomenon (Van Manen, 1990)? In contrast to Van Manen's view, Cobb and Hagemaster (1987) suggested that in phenomenological investigations, the literature review is delayed until analysis of the data is completed. In this way, they argued that the study is truly grounded in the data. Con sequ en tl y, conducting a literature review prior to the collection of data necessitates increased bracketing on the part of the researcher; that is, a researcher's theoretical and experiential beliefs about the phenomenon must be held in abeyance by the researcher so that the research focuses on the lived experience of the participants. For the purpose of this study, a preliminary review of the literature was conducted; then a secondary review was completed 10 following interpretation of the data. Of interest to me was the nature of the lived experience of single-parent families headed by females and the support these families need to define who and what they are and how they function successfully in this family system. Personal interest in families has evolved over the years (a) as a conlmunity nurse visiting various types of families in a community health setting, (b) as a family nurse practitioner in a family practice clinic in charge of families with multiple problems, and (c) as a professor of family nursing in a nursing educational program. An undergraduate nursing student recently queried if single-parent families were "really families." The question at first was amazing but upon further reflection, it proved to be understandably reasonable. My personal and professional experiences have influenced my assumptions about the strength of single-parent families; consequently, these assumptions are described in this chapter. The review of literature is intended to provide a theoretical discussion pertaining to the single-parent family's contextual lives. In this chapter, a feminist analysis of the family, a discussion of family system adjustment following divorce, and a discussion of family strengths are provided. Personal Assumptions My assumptions originated from previous clinical work with families; evaluation of students' clinical work with families in their community health rotation; work associated with a telephone crisis line; and numerous experiences with family, personal friends, and colleagues. Personally, I was raised on a farm in a traditional, nuclear, two-parent family in which my mother was always at home. In fact, I cannot remember a day when she was not honle after school. The aroma of hot cinnamon rolls or doughnuts greeted me as I entered my home. My four siblings and I immediately sat down to "lunch" before supper. My mother not only nourished us with food but also paid attention to our emotional needs. My father maintained a cool but loving distance; he was there when we needed him. I believe that this is a different scenario from what many families experience today. Today, there is a variety of family structures; some of these families hold on to traditional patterns; some establish new forms. Whatever their form, families define who one is, give one strength, and sometimes cause one pain. Families can be a number of things: a haven in a troubled world, a jail for imprisoned minds, or a garden in which one can grow and develop. 11 The old formula of husbands as breadwinners and protectors and wives as nurturers is dying a slow death. Women are entering the work force in record numbers. Consequently, more than ever, families must juggle love, marriage, careers, children, and recreational pursuits. From my own experience as a telephone crisis worker, I perceive that many families find it stressful to deal with this juggling act. Many see divorce as a way out of these stressful situations. There is little doubt that single-parent families undergo stress related to the major loss of a parent and a spouse from the family. Despite the many challenges including economic deprivation, social and legal challenges, and family system 12 reorganization, there are some families that may and in fact do endure and triumph over their difficulties. Family members' lost dreams and hopes must be worked through before the family can move on to a new level of organization and functioning. Healing processes may occur if the family perceives that to remain in destructive family relationships is detrimental to family life and child development. Conflictual relationships within the family contribute to decreased mental health of the family. However, after divorce, the mental health of the family may improve if mothers and children face and adjust to the everyday challenges ahead of them. It is my assumption that single-parent mothers must have individual strength in order to meet the challenges of self-development and family development. In their growth towards a new self, a self without a husband, these women forge ahead finding a new identity. Forging ahead embodies looking back and seeing ahead to a new identity for themselves and the family. Rather than pining for the persons they once were and the past family structure, they move on to a new identity. Time is spent pursuing one's purpose in life independently without denying the needs of children. Reaching their goals in life enhances the development of the entire family. To find one's strength, one must go within to a quiet place, beneath the surface to a deep place, and beyond to a mysterious place. It is through these inner experiences that women who have strength discover themselves, find n1eaning in relationships, seek the beauty of nature, and seek the mystery of life. During times of solitude and introspection, women find their own truth, their authentic being. Strength comes with the realization of feeling okay about being alone and yet being connected to others in meaningful ways. There is a sense of being connected and available yet still experiencing one's separateness. There is an openness to life with the ability to integrate loss, uncertainty, pain, and vulnerability, as well as the joy and beauty of life. Openness embodies valuing the inward life and the outward life, the subjective life and the objective life, and the concrete life as well as the mystery of life. 13 Women who have strength meet life with self-determination, a trusting that they can make it on their own. Making it on their own does not mean that these women cannot ask for assistance with financial, social, and emotional difficulties. For the single-parent family to function smoothly, support from outside sources is nurtured. Support from extended family, friends, and relatives has a positive influence on the single-parent family. Love, empathy, and support can empower single-parent families to feel good about themselves and improve their self-esteem. If family resources are not available, strong single-parent families will often reach out to outside resources. Organizations such as Parents Without Partners, special religious groups, and other resources can fulfill support needs. For children, organizations such as Aunts at Large, Uncles at Large, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts can provide modelling and support. Relationships and communication patterns within single-parent families can improve, thus creating an atmosphere of trust and respect. Mothers recognize that 14 children are human beings with their own thoughts and feelings, and in doing so they truly hear what children have to say. When mothers demonstrate respect for their children, chances are the children will return this respect. Listening is crucial so that family members feel cared for and loved. Taking time to listen gives the message that the individual is trying to understand and values that person. Children nlay feel valued when their mothers teach them to negotiate their way through life. Instead of demanding obedience and imposing controls in an authoritarian way, mothers approach decision making in a democratic way. In other words, children have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. Family conflict is recognized and is dealt with through negotiation. Sharing emotional crises within a family may permit single parents and children to create a special bond. Children may be given responsibilities in single­parent families; thus, they may feel needed and significant because of their contributions. Conquering challenges together as a family may allow a family to explore the meaning of human life in ways that are not always available in dual­parent families. Rethinkin& the Concept of Families Within the last decade, the family has become an important social and political issue. With the growing number of divorces, the increase in single-parent families and people living alone, and the escalation of women in the work force with young children, some scholars are claiming the family is in crisis (Thome, 1982). The family may be under siege, but does this mean crisis? Is the family disintegrating as some suggest, or does it still constitute the strongest support system in society? These are questions that challenge defenders of the conventional nuclear family and others who may advocate a new vision of family life. 15 Scanzoni (1983) identified the conceptualization of society as a major factor in analyzing family forms. The conventional view claims that society is a system of clearly defined roles: Husbands are the major breadwinners for families, and wives are responsible for the care of the home and children in a well-functioning system. It is essential that individuals are versed in these roles and abide by them. In contrast, the progressive view is described as a society that has powerful interest groups who negotiate for their preferred family patterns, which, in tum, promote the goals of the group. The conventional view is characterized by stability and permanence, and deviation from this view is not tolerated. On the other hand, the progressive view is one that is flexible, and anything that makes the system rigid is reduced or eliminated. In the next section of this dissertation, these two social perspectives are used to rethink the nature of the family in contemporary society. The conventional or traditional model of the family, which has prevailed throughout the 20th century, has come into question, particularly from a feminist perspective. Pogrebin (1983) argued that depending on what theorist one reads the family was in transition from "an institutional to a companionship form, from an economic to an affectional unit, from a child-centered to a couple-centered entity, from one lifelong bond to serial connections, from asymmetrical to 16 quasi-equalitarian roles, from kinship groups to extended families to nuclear to reconstituted families" (p. 22). Moreover, Pogrebin contended that only feminists have asked the salient question: "Is the family an inherently oppressive institution?" (p. 22). Feminists are united in the belief that women are oppressed, devalued, and exploited and changes are required to improve the status of women (Jaggar, 1977; Walker & Thompson, 1984). However, there are conflicting views about what needs to be changed and the means to accomplish these changes in order to improve the status of women. Friedan (1963), a forerunner of the women's movement, noted that women in the 1950s and 1960s were oppressed within the nuclear family in isolated suburbia. According to the feminine mystique, women's sole identity was determined by being a wife and a mother, not a person in her own right. Voices within women were saying, "I want something more than my husband and my children and my home" (p. 32). To break free from their desperate existence, women were urged to create a new life plan with satisfying work but incorporating the family. Thus, the first stage of the women's movement was focused on equal opportunity for jobs and education. It was believed that "women have to experience at least the beginning of equality in the world before they can trade off that supreme, excessively burdening power in the family" (p. 100). In the second stage of feminism, Friedan (1981) claimed the conceptualization of the family as a new feminist frontier in which no one can depend on the old nuclear family to meet one's needs for love, support, and 17 nurture even though one still has those needs. Friedan called for new types of family in which equality is based on the ideas of caring and equal partnership. Men were challenged to free themselves from stressful sex roles and to make choices about the nurturing of children and for cooperation in the home as well as the workplace. Women's oppression was rooted in a patriarchal society, claimed Millett (1969) in her theory of sexual politics. She defined sexual politics as "power-structured relationships, arrangements whereby one group is controlled by another" (p. 31). She saw the family as patriarchy's chief institution and the mechanism by which patriarchy was maintained. Within the family, Millett argued, patriarchy was fortified by romantic love, which perpetuated women's economic dependence on men. In tum, this economic dependence reinforced male power. To break out of this pattern, she advocated for a cultural revolution to raise social consciousness to give way to new structures and behaviors. According to Firestone (1970), the heart of women's oppression is her childbearing and child-rearing roles, which make them dependent on males for their survival. The reproductive differences between the sexes result in an unequal distribution of power, which leads to an oppressive class and caste system. Her solution to the dialectic of sex is to do away with the family in order to free women and children from oppression. Chodorow (1978), like Firestone (1970), saw women's reproductive capacities and the sexual division of labor as sources of oppression for women. The family is the central element in the sex/gender system. Within this system, mothers are more involved in interpersonal, affective relationships than fathers, consequently producing a division of psychological capacities in daughters and sons. Chodorow (1978) argued that women, as mothers, produce daughters with mothering capacities and the desire to mother. These capacities and needs are built into and grow out of the mother-daughter relationship itself. By contrast, women as mothers (and men as non mothers) produce sons whose nurturant capacities and needs have been systemically curtailed and repressed. (p. 7) 18 In other words, Chodorow's explanation of the differences between gender identity formation is that a male's identity is tied closely to separation and individuation. Males' early nurturing is experienced from the mother, someone from the opposite sex. Boys, in defining themselves as masculine, separate the mother from themselves, thus curtailing their sense of empathic ties. Correspondingly, girls, in identifying themselves as female, experience themselves like their mothers, thus coalescing the experience of attachment with the process of identity formation. Women are then prepared for affective relationships within the family, whereas men are prepared to work in the public sphere with little preparation for the affective family role. The solution proposed by Chodorow includes the full participation of fathers in the care of their children. Feminine voices of the 1960s and 1970s were somewhat negative, defiant, and angry with a diverse range of reactions. Janeway (1974) believed that the Women's Movement began not so long ago, as protest, and many of its strongest statements are negative, because they arise from dissatisfaction with past standards which have become unrealistic today. To those that are still satisfied with the status quo, these statements seem to be attacks on the way things are, and the Women's Movement is consequently said to be turning women away from marriage and motherhood, and even normal heterosexual relationships. (p. 77) However, the realities of everyday life changed the occupational role for women 19 and also the sexual behavior acceptable for women. The women's movement was seen as a way to respond to the changes that were taking place in society. Some of the changes taking place were connected with the increased ability of women to find employment and support themselves. The changes accounted for substantial increases in the labor force of women of different marital statuses and ages. With this accomplishment, women gained substantial independence, which paved the way for their freedom to choose a marriage partner, to abstain from marriage, or to end a marriage that had become unbearable. The proportion of never-married and the age at which marriage takes place also has risen dramatically. Women have decided to have smaller families, and some have decided to remain childless. There has been a sharp increase in a variety of family forms, from cohabitation to commuter marriages. However, the most striking change has been the upsurge in divorce, single parenthood, and remarriage (Janeway, 1974; Scanzoni et al., 1989). Is it possible that the feminists' critique of oppressive family life espoused during the 1960s and 1970s still resonates within the lives of women and children today? Flax (1982) provided a thought-provoking critique on this question. She 20 argued that even though Friedan (1963, 1981), Millett (1969), and Firestone (1970) agreed that women are oppressed when they are defined in terms of their sexual roles, these authors did not agree on the source of the definition, on the cause, or on the means to overcome the oppression. They did not consider the differences among women such as class or race or different family variations. Flax (1982) faulted the aforementioned feminists for having abstract notions of consciousness. For example, she stated that Friedan (1963, 1981) did not explain how the "feminine mystique keeps women from being persons" or how one "achieves fulfillment by oneself, outside of relations with others" (p. 230). Nor did Firestone (1970) explain how biology is the determining factor in the destiny of women. However, Flax (1982) gave Firestone (1970) credit for including children in her discussion about the oppressive nature of the family. She argued, however, that Firestone's discussion of children neglected to take "unconscious and psychosexual development seriously" (p. 231). She further argued that Firestone did not recognize the special needs of children, except for a short period of physical dependence. Firestone's notion of children suggested that they are "fully rational, theorizing adults, able to carry out sophisticated political analysis of their parents' relationship by the age of three" (p. 231). It is questionable whether Firestone had any understanding of the maturation process of children or children's experience of their family experience or their family situation. In summary, the theories purported by Friedan (1963, 1981), Millett 21 (1969), Firestone (1970), and Chodorow (1978) do not provide a deep, rich understanding of women's or children's experience within the family. "The key to understanding humans lay [sic] in deciphering how they, in their words and actions, attach meanings to the object of their concern" (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 9). The meaning that single-parent mothers and their children assign to their interpersonal relations must be understood in order to appreciate fully the challenges that single-parent families face and the strength needed to live fulfilling lives. From Divorce to Sinele-Parent Family: A Transition The study of human experiences as they relate to health is the substantive domain of nursing science. Me1eis (1991), in describing the concepts central to the domain of nursing, identified the study of health within life transitions as points of inquiry for nurses. She suggested that nurses work with people who are "experiencing transition, anticipating transition, or completing the act of transition" (p. 103). Transitions are developmental, situational, or health/illness events that require a change in health status, role relationships, expectations, or abilities (Me1eis, 1991). Separations are a significant part of the human condition, beginning with physical separation from one's mother's body at birth and ending with death itself. Each attachment and detachment encountered is a significant aspect of a human being's evolving life (Dlugokinski, 1977). Divorce is a significant developmental 22 and situational separation that affects many lives; in particular, it affects all family members' and social network members' relationships. Moreover, divorce represents a process of dramatic redefinitions of family relationships rather than termination of these relationships (Pais & White, 1979). It is not beneficial to view divorce as dissolution of the nuclear family or as "family in transition to another two-parent binuclear household, but rather as a family in transition to a different structure or organization, a bona fide family form" (Herz Brown, 1989, p. 371) that results in a redefinition of family relationships. Because Weltner (1982) values the intact nuclear family, he painted a pathetic picture of the female-headed, single-parent family. He described all single-parent mothers at risk, "beset by such a raft of problems that helplessness became a way of life"; the lack of validation from the husband left the mother as a "less effective and less powerful leader of the family," and the demands such as work, household maintenance, and child care dictated that "some of these demands will be met poorly, if at all" (po 204). He described mothers as unable to provide support to their children as they were unable to set limits, provide advice, and nurture their children. Finally, when children'S services are marshalled, the role of children also was described in a negative way. Children in female-headed homes are compared to Cinderella in the sense that they are "overworked, undervalued and unsupported in the dealings with siblings" (p. 205). Other children's roles Weltner described are that of scapegoat, parents' confidant, a 23 target of mother's wrath, and the recipient of unfinished business between mother and her parents. No doubt single-parent families are stressed as they redefine who they are as a family, but the aforementioned view of the single, female-headed family only creates a sense of powerlessness as they deal with the disruption in their lives. Furthermore, the above description of the single-parent family does not give an accurate understanding of single-parent families based on women's and children's experiences; rather, it is perceived by those who do not have the experience, or it is filtered through the experience of what it is like from a two-parent family perspective. Single-parent families experience a dramatic transition in family definition, organization, and relationships (Ahrons, 1979; Bohannan, 1970; Pais & White, 1979; Textor, 1989). To counteract the prevailing view of divorce as family dissolution, Ahrons (1980a) proposed a binuclear family system whereby the maternal and paternal households become the center of the child's "family orientation" (po 439). In her study of 41 divorced spouses, Ahrons (1980b) found differences in the way divorced spouses coparented. Some were flexible and were able to work out satisfactory arrangements for their children; others needed more structure to avoid conflict; and yet other families required mediation to negotiate responsibilities in order to implement decisions for child care. She concluded that literature on divorce was derived mainly from clinical work; role models of successful divorced families were lacking. The areas of family redefinition delineated by Bohannan (1970) are six 24 different experiences of separation. They are as follows: (a) enlotional divorce, which centers around the breakup of the marriage; (b) legal divorce, which is based on grounds; (c) economic divorce, which deals with the settlement of money and property; (d) coparental divorce, which deals with legal custody of children; (e) community divorce, which marks changes in supportive networks; and (1) psychic divorce, which is associated with the development of autonomy. These changes do not necessarily happen in any particular sequence or intensity, but Bohannan believed they are areas to consider when dealing with divorced families. Following a process model, Herz Brown (1989) conceptualized divorce as three distinct phases that included the aftermath, realignment, and stabilization of the family system. During the process of stabilizing as a single-parent family, family members undergo many disruptions in their lives as additional tasks are added. However, Herz Brown concluded that many families fail to reach a new form; but, if the family restabilizes, it can function well if the mother decides to marry or not. Children's definitions of their reconstituted families go beyond biological and legal definitions (Gross, 1986; Klee, Schmidt, & Johnson, 1989). In an anthropological study, children of divorce defined their families in flexible ways to encompass biological and legal criteria, as well as relationships with people who were not related in biological or legal ways (Klee et al., 1989). Divorce encompasses changes in family relationships, which have been given little attention. Klee et al. concurred and stated that "the impact of new family forms on the socialization of children, in general, and particularly on the way that children learn to conceptualize the family needs greater attention" (p. Ill). Divorce: Family System Adjustment 25 The events of separation and divorce potentially lead to major changes that produce considerable stress for families. Next to death of one's spouse, divorce may initiate the most severe demands for the reorganization of family life (Holmes & Rahe, 1967). After divorce, mothers generally gain custody of the children, with the exception of unusual circumstances (Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1978). Glick (1979) predicted that by 1990 one half of all children would spend some time in a female-headed family. Divorced women with children must face a number of interrelated challenges involving the resolution of emotional and pragmatic issues, establishing effective roles and relationships with family members, and development of new interests and social relationships (Mandell, 1988). In order to meet these challenges and become a one-parent family, Herz Brown (1989) suggested that one must resolve issues during the aftermath of divorce and during the realignment and stabilization of the family system. During the process of stabilizing as a single-parent household, numerous tasks must be accomplished and difficulties must be overcome. However, she believed that many families do not stabilize successfully in their new family form. Weiss (1979) purported that it takes from 2 to 4 years to recover from the effects of divorce. The Aftennath of Divorce Adult Emotional Adjustment 26 The 1st year following separation or divorce can be "as devastating as any natural disaster" (Herz Brown, 1989, p. 374). In the past, researchers examined divorce from a pathogenic perspective linking marital dissolution with psychopathology, with marital status linked to mental disorder (Kraus, 1979). In Bloom, White, and Asher's (1978) review of studies, it was pointed out that divorced people had twice the suicide rate of married people, more car accidents, higher death rates due to physical diseases, and more abuse of alcohol. This pathogenic view of divorce has been criticized, as positive outcomes of divorce were not considered (Kraus, 1979). More recently, the adjustment to divorce has been conceptualized as a transitional crisis (Ahrons, 198Gb) that initially may produce considerable pain, turmoil, and disorganization of family members. However, the successful mastery of this crisis can have growth-producing effects as family members develop new capacities to adjust (Nelson, 1985). Marital separation can precipitate intense and complex emotional reactions. Weiss (1979) provided a description of divorce adjustment from a clinical perspective of 150 recently separated or divorced people who attended educational seminars. Following separation, he found that couples suffered from separation distress, which encompassed a number of common emotional problems. These emotional problems included pining for the spouse accompanied by feelings of anxiety, fearfulness, and intense anger at the spouse, tempered with ambivalence, 27 alternating at times with euphoria and relief. He claimed that separation distress fades with the passage of time; however, when separation distress dissipated, loneliness may set in if no other satisfying relationship took place. Hetherington et al. (1978) agreed that, with time, attachment and conflict decrease, but anger and resentment are sustained longer by mothers compared to fathers. Other researchers disagreed with Weiss (1979) that loss of attachment fully described separation distress; other changes and stressors such as economic, social, and parental spheres are known to relieve and/or exacerbate feelings of distress above and beyond those due to the loss of attachnlent (Brown, Felton, Whiteman, & Manela, 1980). Spanier and Casto (1979) refuted the notion that continued attachment to the former spouse is a major cause of emotional problems that follow separation. In their study, they concluded that "there is a substantial minority of ex-spouses for whom attachment or its loss presents no major problem" (p. 220). Berman (1988) also suggested that ongoing attachment is different conceptually than emotional distress following divorce. He drew the conclusion that coping strategies that alleviated emotional distress appeared to be less useful in reducing ongoing attachment. The whole process of separation is experienced differently for women and men according to a study by Chiriboga and Cutler (1977). A sample of 252 men and women were interviewed about the difficulties and advantages associated with the stages of divorce they had experienced. Men appeared more vulnerable than women to the stresses of separation, especially with emotional issues. It was 28 concluded that men are likely to deny their emotional feelings, whereas women are more in touch with their emotional issues and do not use convenient avenues of escape. Women experience an emotional low more quickly but also resolve their emotional difficulties more rapidly. In another study by Chirlboga, Roberts, and Stein (1978), psychological well-being was explored in a sample of 309 men and women aged 20 to 79. Men were significantly less happy than women, and the older respondents reported greater unhappiness than the younger respondents. Gray (1978) reported that there was a general improvement in the mental health of 126 male and female separated and divorced participants 6 months following her original study. Participants in her study had developed more functional time patterns, were making autonomous decisions, and had increased feelings of self-esteem and self-worth. Some of the 1980s studies on divorce transition examined not only the distress caused by divorce but also relief, personal growth, and coping mechanisms individuals used. Spanier and Thompson's (1983) study of 205 recently separated individuals found that, in some cases, relief, a novel finding, also may be considered a change after the dissolution of a marriage. These researchers distinguished between the distressed group and the relieved group. They noted that the distressed group had "a low level of educational achievement," reported "that they were subjected to strong disapproval of the divorce by spouse's parents and friends," recalled "a high level of extramarital ties and task participation in the marriage," and were "recovering from a spouse-initiated divorce" (p. 44). In 29 contrast, the relieved group recalled "a low level of consensus and harmony during the final months of marriage," reported "a high likelihood of having postponed the divorce because of their children," and showed "a tendency to have considered an alternative dating partner" (p. 46). Buehler and Langenbrunner (1987) also found that recently divorced people experience personal growth and relief despite the occurrence of negative experiences. Researchers have predicted several variables that enhance coping in divorced single parents. Pett (1982) identified the following predictors for successful social adjustment of divorced single parents: (a) subjective feelings of well-being and the absence of distress, (b) the amount of income collected from welfare, (c) the quality of relationships with significant others, (d) family status, and (e) social support and remarriage of the custodial parents. Another study by Propst, Pardington, Ostrom, and Watkins (1986) indicated that the phase of divorce and/or separation, numbers and ages of children less than 10 years old, the style of coping, and educational level have an effect on the adjustment of single mothers. Divorce and Child Adjustment It has been documented in the literature that children of divorce are subject to cognitive, behavioral, and affective problems within the 1st year of separation/divorce. An influential research project carried out in the early 1970s provides a comprehensive understanding of children's adjustment to parental divorce (Kelly & Wallerstein, 1976; Wallerstein & Kelly, 1975, 1976). Sixty 30 families with 131 children between 21f2 and 18 years old were studied intensively shortly after separation 1, 5, and 10 years later. The sample was predominantly young, white, and middle-to-upper class and was drawn from a normal population. The majority of children of all age groups was reported to have significant psychosocial problems following parental divorce, and these problems varied according to the child's age. Youngest children were whiny, fearful, and aggressive, exhibited regressive behavior, and were possessive. Preschool children did not appear to understand the divorce and blamed themselves for their parents' separation. School-aged children experienced mixed feelings of sadness, anxiety, and anger. Many of these children had conflicts of divided loyalty and wished that their parents would reconcile. Magrab (1978) compared the separation and divorce process to the loss of the parent through death. Adjustment to divorce is similar to the grieving process as divorce "stimulates feelings of separation anxiety mixed with feelings of helplessness and rejection" (p. 237). Other symptoms of irritability, loss of appetite, and poor sleeping patterns may occur as well. These short-term adjustments may be good or bad; however, they are not necessarily predictions of long-term outcomes. Another factor believed to be important is the length of time since separation/divorce. Wallerstein and Kelly (1980) found that the child's greatest adjustment problems occurred during the 1st year after divorce; however, some children 2 years following divorce had increased behavioral problems. They 31 concluded that divorce has short-term effects, as well as chronic effects in some cases. Children's responses to parental divorce may vary with the gender of the child. Studies of children show more maladjustment problems for boys compared to girls in divorced families (Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980); other researchers (Kurdek, Blisk, & Slessky, 1981) found no gender differences. The results of a meta-analysis of studies dealing with the long-term effects of parental divorce for adult well-being does not support the widely held contention that parental divorce has more detrimental consequences for males than for females (Amato & Keith, 1991). There is a growing consensus in the literature that interparental conflict affects children's adjustment (Emery, 1982; Jacobson, 1978; Luepnitz, 1979; Nichols, 1984; Oppawsky, 1989; Walsh & Stolberg, 1989). In a study by Oppawsky (1989), 65 % of the children suggested that "one thing their parents could do to reduce the divorce trauma on them was to stop fighting" (p. 151). Children's reactions to parental fighting were increased crying, sadness, anger, anxiety, hate and hostility toward the parents, shame due to parental behavior, and lowered grades in school. However, these children noted that after the parents moved apart, they were less subject to the parental conflict. Hetherington et al. (1978) found that a "conflict-ridden intact family is more deleterious to family members than a stable home situation in which parents are divorced" (p. 175), Pra&:matic Issues and Financial Concerns An important concern after marital separation/divorce is the economic concerns of female-headed families. Previous research supports a picture of downward income mobility for divorced mothers. Lowered income also precipitates changes in moves to more affordable housing (Brandwein, Brown, & Fox, 1974) or moves to neighborhoods that are unsafe but close to work or day care (Colletta, 1983). Geographic moves may induce additional stress into an already stressful situation (Asher & Bloom, 1983). Generally, the 1st year following divorce, the lives of single parents are more disorganized compared to intact families. Hetherington et al. (1978) described erratic household routines with respect to mealtimes, bedtime, and household routines. Mother/Child Relationships 32 Data from longitudinal studies provide rich descriptions of changes occurring in parent-child relationships in single-parent families after divorce. According to some scholars, there is a deterioration in the parent-child relationships, particularly in the 1st year after divorce (Hetherington et al., 1978; Wallerstein, 1983). Divorced parents compared to married parents are less affectionate, make fewer maturity demands, are more authoritarian, and are inconsistent in their disciplinary measures. In addition, divorced mothers use more negative sanctions particularly with sons. Children of single parents contribute to this vicious cycle of communication by exhibiting more negative behaviors 1 year after divorce compared with children from intact families (Hetherington et al., 1978). 33 Divorced custodial mothers experience powerlessness and stress in regard to their children (Worell & Garret-Fulks, 1983). Herz Brown (1989) stated, "A mother's sense of powerlessness is proportional to her perception of the vacuum created by the father's absence from the home" (p. 376). Initially, the mother may try to overcome her incompetency by pulling the father, children, or grandparents into the empty space. This may provide temporary assistance, but, in the long run, this is dysfunctional for the family. In summary, there is a voluminous amount of research indicating that women and children experience short-term adaptation problems following separation and divorce. However, much of the research has a pathogenic orientation as generally negative outcomes are emphasized. Many of the studies in this area have examined clinical populations, have compared single-parent families who are in a crisis with happy intact families, have not properly controlled for numerous contextual variables such as socioeconomic status and the amount of time elapsed since separation/divorce, have used cross-sectional designs, and have used linear unidirectional models accompanied by singular static variables. Single methods only provide a partial understanding of the construct and possibly provide a misleading understanding of the construct. Living in a single-parent family is a complex human phenomenon. It deserves an inquiry model that considers multiple meanings that women and 34 children may attribute to their functioning within the single-parent family. A deeper, richer understanding of the single-parent family situation can be achieved if respondents' meanings and contexts are grounded in their descriptions of lived experience. Living in a single-parent family system is not limited to a physical reality, a reality that are things per se, something that is context free; rather, it is a context dependent, situational entity that is socially constructed. Linear models of cause-and-effect will not tap the fullness and depth of the construct. The two-parent family is held as the benchmark family in most of Western society. According to a survey of 1,505 psychologists conducted by the American Psychological Association, the decline of the nuclear family is seen as the greatest threat to mental health in America (Staff, 1991). The rising divorce rate and the increasing numbers of single parents are "change[s] that may be viewed as threatening to the status quo and as requiring condemnation as pathological" (Nelson, 1985, p. 133). Instead of condemning the rise in marital separation/divorce, it would be useful to conceptualize this phenomenon as a stressful life event that requires adaptation with both negative and positive outcomes for family members (Nelson, 1985). Further research is needed that examines both the positive and negative consequences of marital separation and divorce for the single-parent family. Family Strenlrth There is a paucity of research that highlights healthy functioning of female­headed families after separation and postdivorce adjustment. However, contributions toward understanding the strength of two-parent families are prevalent in the literature. 35 Characteristics of healthy, two-parent families vary throughout the literature. Otto (1973), a pioneer in the study of family strengths, proposed four major strengths: (a) provision of emotional, spiritual, and physical needs of the family; (b) effective communication patterns; (c) reliable support systems; and (d) constructive problem solving and crisis management. Stinnett and his research colleagues also studied family strengths (Stinnett, Chester, & DeFrain, 1979; Stinnett & DeFrain, 1981; Stinnett, DeFrain, King, Knaub, & Rowe, 1981; Stinnett, Sanders, DeFrain, & Parkhurst, 1982). They delineated six characteristics that strong families share in common: the expression of appreciation by family members, spending quality time together, good communication patterns, a high degree of commitment to one another, a religious orientation, and the ability to handle crises effectively. Curran (1983) surveyed professionals who worked with families. She delineated 15 family traits that focus on how people relate to one another in a family system. From a systems perspective, another group of researchers advanced a circumflex model based on the family dimensions of cohesion and adaptability to delineate healthy family functioning (Olson, Sprenkle, & Russell, 1979). They proposed that a balanced level of both cohesion and adaptability is the most functional for marital and family health. For example, too much cohesion or closeness can result in enmeshment, whereas too little cohesion can result in 36 disengagement of the family system. In regard to adaptability, too much change can lead to a chaotic system, whereas too little can lead to rigidity. Using the circumflex model as their theoretical guide in a ground-breaking study based on 1,140 married couples and families from 31 states, Olson et al. (1983) provided further understanding of family strengths from their study of families who were undergoing normal developmental changes. Important findings from this study are marital strengths including communication, conflict resolution, role relationship, and sexual relationship, whereas family pride, accord, and good parent-adolescent communication are considered important for family strength. There is a dearth of knowledge about the strengths related to the single­parent family. Hanson (1986) recognized the need to study the single-parent family from a positive framework; however, she studied the single-parent family using dimensions previously identified in the research literature with healthy two-parent families. Fitting the single-parent family into existing models of family strengths of two-parent families is a limitation in the conception of the human condition. In contrast, Duffy (1984, 1989) conducted a qualitative research study to determine the relationship of mental well-being and the practice of primary prevention behaviors. Her research culminated in a theory of transcending options that described the family's practice of preventive behaviors as a subset of the family's life circumstances. In summary, there is little research describing the healthy functioning of female-headed families with school-aged children 2 or more years following 37 separation/divorce. For the most part, analysis of the single-parent family functioning has been undertaken as a study of a deviation from the norm, because the norm has been arrived at by the study of the conventional nuclear family experience. The divorce crisis may stimulate family growth and development in ways that are not available in the two-parent family system. Knowledge of the experience of successful change from a two-parent family to a one-parent family falls short. There is a need to describe the strength of single-parent families that may develop following separation and divorce. CHAPTER ill METHODOLOGY Introduction Chapter II illustrated how the current knowledge from a feminist perspective and a pathogenic view of the single-parent family glossed over the understanding of the complexity of family functioning within a single-parent family structure. Presently, there is a need to describe the strength of single-parent families that may develop following separation and divorce. Phenomenology is a research design that explores the humanness of being in the world (Bergum, 1989). Family is a situation in which individuals live out their humanness and in which they are involved in a shared history, tradition and rituals, and a social network that they constitute or are constituted by. Phenonlenology is best suited togo beyond the "taken for granted" in family life. Moreover, the task of phenomenology is to "uncover the meanings in everyday practice in such a way that they are not destroyed, distorted, decontextualized, trivialized, or sentimentalized" (Benner, 1985, p. 6). The phenomenological research design is derived from the phenomenological philosophy and was selected for this study because it best answers the following questions: From the perspective of school-aged children (8 to 15 years old) and their mothers who have been separated or divorced for 2 or more years: (a) what is the lived experience of strength within single-parent families, (b) what do single-parent mothers perceive as their family strength in everyday life, and (c) what do children perceive as their family strength in everyday life? PhenomenolollY: An Historical Perspective 39 Husserl (1962), the founding father of phenomenology as a philosophy, argued that the fundamental principal of phenomenology is the return to the "things themselves." This appeal to the things themselves signifies that philosophy must begin with the root of knowledge to the foundation of knowledge without presuppositions (Cohen, 1987). For Husserl, the roots of knowledge are found in the consciousness of the knowing subject to whom the phenomena appear (Spiegelberg, 1982). Thus, phenomenology means "the study of phenomena, as-phenomena-appear-through consciousness" (Thompson, 1990, p. 232). Thompson (1990) suggested that many nurses still equate the phenomenological tradition with Husserl (1962). The concepts from the transcendental school of phenomenology that nurses continue to emphasize in their studies are (a) "an analysis of the subject and object-as-the-object-appears­through- consciousness, (b) an emphasis on bracketing or epoch as a method for suspending naive realist awareness, and (c) an emphasis on describing the full appearance of the object of inquiry" (p. 233), Heidegger, a former student of Husserl (1962), primarily was concerned 40 with "Being and Time" because the meaning of "Being is ultimately bound up with the phenomenon of Time" (Heidegger, 1956, p. 34). For Heidegger, a human being is a Dasein, which means "being-in-the-world." He believed that being-in-the-world meant that awareness was not totally subjective but rather intersubjective. The central question became, "What does it mean to be?" (Spinelli, 1989, p. 108). The focus of Heidegger's fundamental wonder was Being, whereas consciousness was fundamental to HusserI's philosophy. Thompson (1990) provided an insightful analysis on the parting of the ways of the two philosophers. She argued that Heideggerian phenomenology rejects "the notion of subject and object and thus does not begin fronl a position that needs to show how we know an object" (p. 234). Thus, experience is not primarily knowledge. She continued to argue that "we have our experiences, or, rather they have us, prereflectively without any falling away of subject and object-we live our lives by experiencing the world and not primarily by 'knowing' it" (p. 234). Finally, the shift from consciousness to existence was a crucial development of hermeneutic phenomenology. Emphasis shifted from questions of knowing to questions of being or experiencing the world (Thompson, 1990). Van Manen (1990), a contemporary phenomenologist, posited that hunlan science research is a phenomenological and hermeneutical study of human existence: phenomenology because "it is a descriptive study of lived experience-which is mined for its meaning [and hermeneutical because] it is the interpretive study of the expressions and objectifications (texts) or lived experience in the attempt to determine the meaning embodied in them" (p. 38). In essence, phenomenology is the description of experience and hermeneutics with interpretation of experience (Bergum, 1989). 41 According to Van Manen (1990), a slight shift has occurred in phenomenology, a shift from the epistemology of experience and perception to that of epistemology of language. Language is considered central to hermeneutics, as human experience is only possible because of language. Human understanding is possible because "we are born into linguistic communities, and the language(s) we speak are at once the conditions of new knowledge, opening us to new understandings, and the limits of what we can know or understand in the future" (Thompson, 1990, pp. 241-242). The major task of phenomenology is to elucidate the essence of the phenomenon under investigation (Parse, Coyne, & Smith, 1985). I wanted to find out what a certain phenomenon means and how it is experienced. Essence, described by Van Manen (1990), is "a linguistic construction, a description of a phenomenon" (p. 35). The linguistic description, as envisioned by Van Manen (1990), is both "holistic and analytical, evocative and precise, unique and universal, powerful and sensitive" (p. 39). A good description results in a "phenomenological nod" (Van Manen, 1990, p. 27) or, in other words, "Yes, of course, I can identify with that experience. " The philosophical beliefs that underscore phenomenological inquiry are particularly compatible to study the lived experiences of strength within a single- ECCI1S If.ALTHSCIfICES UBRA,RY 42 parent family. The family perceptions of strength are not a group perception but are a shared meaning that is influenced by the adults, as well as the children, in the family. The unique perceptions of individual members shape the resulting family perceptions of their strength. In the following section of this dissertation, some basic characteristics of phenomenological research are illustrated, which will be pertinent to the study of the lived experience of strength in single-parent families. Researchin& the Lived Experience The primary task of the phenomenological researcher is to orient the self to the question of meaning within the world of lived experience (Van Manen, 1990). To understand the lived experience from the participant's perspective, the researcher must follow the rule of epoch that entails bracketing; that is, the researcher examines carefully, understands, and makes explicit his or her knowledge of the phenomenon and personal assumptions about the phenomenon. However, the researcher suspends the experiential and theoretical knowledge so that the research focuses on the lived experience of the participants. An openness on the part of the researcher is mandatory in order to allow for a reflective examination of the phenomenon under study. In this way, the fundamental nature of the phenomenon is revealed (Spinelli, 1989; Van Manen, 1990). A second characteristic of the phenomenological method outlined by Spinelli (1989) is "Describe, don't explain" (p. 17). Van Manen (1990) suggested that the participants must describe their experience, avoiding as much as possible "causal 43 explanations, generalizations, or abstract interpretations" (p. 64). It is helpful for the participants to describe their experience from the "inside" (p. 64); for example, descriptions should include feelings, moods, and emotions of the experience. As the researcher interviews the participants, it is important to "stay close to the experience as lived" (Van Manen, 1990, p. 67). Generally, participants should be encouraged to speak with as much specificity as possible about their lived experience. In order to get at the concreteness of the experience, Bergum (1989) suggested the following question: "Can you give me an example?" that facilitates in-depth, vivid description (p. 49). Last, the final step outlined by Spinelli (1989) is the "rule of horizontalization" or the "equalization rule" (p. 18). With this rule, Spinelli cautioned phenomenological researchers to avoid placing any initial hierarchies of importance on the data. Each piece of data should be treated initially as having equal value or significance. Study Participants The participants in any phenomenological study are recruited from a population living the experience of the phenomenon being studied (Parse et al., 1985). The participants in this study were recruited from a group of single-parent wonlen and their school-aged children ranging from 8 to 15 years old. Colaizzi (1978) suggested that experience with the investigated topic and the ability to articulate the phenomenon should serve as criteria for selecting participants in a phenomenological study. 44 Single-parent families who met the following eligibility criteria were recruited for this study: (a) mothers and child must be English speaking; (b) mothers must have joint or sole custody of the children or, if separated, the children must live with the mother the majority of the time; (c) family must include some children in the 8- to 15-year-old age bracket; (d) mothers and children must be healthy with no evident chronic or terminal illness; (e) mothers must be separated/divorced for at least 2 years; and (f) mothers and children must be able to articulate their family strength. Colaizzi (1978) further suggested that the number of participants depends on various factors that must be tried out in each individual study. As such, it is difficult to determine at the beginning of the study the numbers of participants to recruit into the study. However, Parse (1990a) was more specific about participant selection when she suggested that 2 to 10 participants is an adequate number for a phenomenological study when redundancy of data is sought. In this study, 12 participants were included, 4 mothers and their 8 children. Purposive- and snowball-sampling approaches for recruiting participants were utilized in the study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 1990). The snowball­sampling process began by requesting from key professional colleagues and personal friends their recommendations for referrals to single-parent families that fit the eligibility criteria. I was the final judge as to whether the participants could articulate their experience of strength within their single-parent family situation. In keeping with the snowball process and as the study progressed, I asked the 45 participants to recommend other participants who might share their experiences of strength. In addition, advertisements were placed in local newspapers, churches, and single-parent organizations requesting volunteers for the study (see Appendix A). Purposive sampling ensures that as thorough data as feasible are collected-thorough in the sense of being explicit, illustrative, broad, and contextually rich. Informational adequacy was ensured by the completeness, relevance, and amount of the information obtained (Morse, 1989). Specifically, adequacy is achieved when the researcher experiences repeated redundancy in data elicited from the participants. In other words, I heard the same ideas and information about a phenomenon articulated repeatedly. Because the ability to articulate the phenomenon experientially is so important to a phenomenological study, prior acceptance of the participants into the study was evaluated by way of a telephone conversation with the single-parent mothers using the aforementioned criteria as a guide. It was necessary that the participants had the experience of strength within their families and were willing to share and articulate this experience. In 2 cases, the male children were unwilling to participate; consequently, these 2 families were not included in the study. Generation of Data In-depth, informal, conversational interviews (Patton, 1990) are better suited for phenomenological studies as "conversations implicate a revealing of something in common," whereas more structured interviews involve "an effort to 46 gather information about perceptions or practices" (Carson, 1986, p. 78). During the dialogical interviews, the researcher must assume the stance of imaginative listening by being totally present to the participant. More specifically, the researcher must realize that the informants are more than a source of data; they are unique people. Only then can the full richness of the person be realized, as the researcher must listen with the totality of her or his being and with the entirety of her or his personality (Colaizzi, 1978). This means that the researcher accepts and affirms the participant so that the person can speak freely, openly, and honestly to the research question. In conversations, there are "profusion(s) of examples, ostensive references, and vivid recollections" (Carson, 1986, p. 81), which help bring forth unexpected insights. To supplement data received from conversational interviews, other personal documents may be obtained. Journal writing, artwork, and poetry are other examples of data that offer additional meaning and depth and oftentimes can supplement depictions of the experience obtained from conversational interviews (Moustakas, 1990). In the past, researchers have relied almost exclusively on adults as the primary informants for data concerning children's thoughts and feelings (Faux, Walsh, & Deatrick, 1988). Children from the ages of 6 through 12 years old may be able to provide excellent information for qualitative researchers because of their cognitive and linguistic abilities and positive adult relationships. The interview method, combined with artwork, is an optimal way to study a child's world 47 (Deatrick & Faux, 1989). As such, subjective data collection instruments are appropriate for use with children because there is a particular need to obtain inside the unique "culture of childhood" (Yamamoto, Soliman, Parsons, & Davies, 1987, p. 855) to understand how the world appears to children. Recently, artwork has been used successfully in nursing studies to understand children's perceptions of roles in physicians' office visits (Baretich, Stephenson, & Igoe, 1989), children's perceptions of their body image (Johnson, 1990), and siblings' understanding of cancer (Rollins, 1990). The concept of the Kinetic Family Drawing provides information about how children perceive themselves in their family. Movement depicted in a child's artwork helps mobilize a child's feelings not only as related to self-concept but also in the area of interpersonal relations (Rollins, 1990). Johnson (1990) also concurred with Rollins by suggesting that children's drawings may be a "useful peephole into the complex nature of children's feelings" (p. 16). Interviews with Sina:1e-Parent Mothers In-depth, informal, face-to-face conversational interviews were conducted with 4 single-parent mothers in a mutually agreed-upon location, which included the participants' homes and my horne. Prior to the conversational interview, the participants were asked to respond to a demographic questionnaire administered by me (see Appendix B). :Each conversational interview was audio taped and transcribed verbatim after receiving permission from the mothers of the study (see Appendix C). There was no set time limit placed on the conversations with the 48 mothers. According to Moustakas (1990), the conversations are not "ruled by the clock but by inner experiential time" (p. 38). The dialogue is completed when the participants have the opportunity to finish their story to a point of natural closing. However, in this study, I made individual judgments as to the termination of the conversation by considering the mother's level of fatigue, boredom, and data collected. For example, in 1 case, I lost the mother's attention, and she appeared to be tired; thus, the tape recorder was turned off for a short break. The mother declined a second interview, so the interview was completed after a short break. The interviews ranged in length from Ilh to 3 hours. Conversational interviews began with some social chit chat to establish trust and comfort between me and the participant. Initially, I asked the participants to talk in a general manner about their experience of strength within their single­parent family. Van Manen (1990) suggested that it is desirable to stay close to the phenomenon as it is lived; therefore, it may be necessary to become concrete. In this manner the informants were asked to describe, in the fullest sense, experiences, situations, and circumstances in which they believed their family had strength. Polit and Hungler (1991) warned phenomenological researchers not to impose structure on the research situation by deciding in advance what questions to ask and how to ask them, as this will only restrict the participants' descriptions of their experience. Consequently, the following are only examples of questions that were used to elicit data about the experience of strength in a single-parent family from the mother's perspective: 1. How would you describe situations, events, and relationships that require family strength. 2. How would you describe your thoughts and feelings at these times. 3. From where does your family draw strength? 4. What resources have you used for your family? yourself? 5. What are you most proud of about your family? yourself? 6. What is your present relationship like with your children? your extended family? your friends? 49 7. Knowing what you now know, would you do anything different with your life? 8. What is your advice to other women who are living in a single­parent family? Interviews with the mothers were exhilarating and, at times, exhausting as they related stories about strength required for everyday life; strength needed to overcome losses, crises, and transitions; and strength needed to deal with relationships with their children, the men in their lives, and the school system. Their stories made me chuckle, and they evoked deep feelings of sadness which connected me to my own strengths and vulnerabilities. Their stories also brought forth a deep admiration for these women. The women seemed to be empowered as they talked with confidence about their lives and, at other times, they spoke hesitantly to find words to describe their experiences. All in all, they seemed to 50 appreciate the opportunity to speak about their strengths. Interviews and Artwork with Children Initially, I engaged the children by introducing myself and told them that I had already talked to their mothers about their family strength. I explained the research project in words that the children could understand. Prior to data collection, in some instances, I participated in activities in which they were involved. For example, 1 of the children was trying to fix his bubble machine, so I attempted to help him with this project. With another child, I met her at a fitness club; prior to the interview at her home, we had dinner at the club. Written consent was provided by the mother for children 8 to 11 years old; these children also gave their verbal consent. Written assent was obtained from 12-year-old children, as outlined by Institutional Review Board of the University of Utah (see Appendix D). In any event, the children were given opportunities to say whether they wished to participate in the study. If any eligible merrlber of the family refused to participate in the study, the entire family was excluded. Two families were excluded from this study, as 2 male children refused to participate. During the conversational interview, the child was asked initially to draw a picture of her or his family_The instructions to the children were simply, "Draw a picture of your family_" Crayons and 8 1/2" x 11 n paper were provided by me. The children decided where they wished to draw the picture. The settings varied; some children chose the coffee table, the kitchen table, or the dining room table. With the exception of 1 child, all children displayed an eagerness to draw a picture 51 of their families. After the picture had been completed, I asked the children where they wanted the tape-recorded interview to take place. The settings varied from the children's bedrooms, the living room, the family room, and the kitchen. With the exception of 1 family, all mothers were present in the home at the time of the interview. I opened the conversational interview with the child by discussing the family drawing. The following are examples only of questions that were used: 1. Who is in the picture? 2. What are they doing in the picture? 3. What do you like to do with your family? mother? father? brother(s)? sister(s)? others? 4. Who are your friends? What do you like to do with your friends? 5. Who helps you with your schoolwork? 6. What do you like about your family? 7. Imagine you are shipwrecked on a desert island. Who would you like to have there with you? Imagine you have a free rocket trip to Mars. Who would you like to take with you? 8. Imagine you have a magic wand. What three wishes would you make for your family? It has been suggested that school-aged children can be interviewed optimally for 30 to 40 minutes; however, children 10+ years old may be interviewed for 1 hour or more without difficulty (Faux et al., 1988). In this study, the length of the interview ranged from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Individual judgments were made as 52 to the termination of the conversational interviews, taking into consideration the child's level of fatigue, boredom, and data collected. In 1 case, the interview was terminated shortly after the child returned from the bathroom with a spray bottle. It was obvious that he was no longer interested in the interview. The interview experience with the children proved to be delightful, emotionally moving, and unpredictable at times. For the most part, the children did not remain seated during the interview; instead, they roamed about their physical space while showing me their favorite collections of porcelain dolls, cars, and pictures. The children's drawings of their family were useful tools in engaging and focusing them to talk about what they liked about their families. Not only did the children discuss their immediate family (the family they lived with) but also conversations led to descriptions of the extended fanlily, their friends, and pets. After the more formal part of the interview was completed, some children engaged me further by inviting me into their world of play either as an active participant or as an interested bystander. Children in 2 of the families wanted to visit my home and play with my dog, Charly. With the permission of the parents, I was able to accommodate their requests. Both visits entailed a nature walk with Charly and me. This encounter was an enlightening, rich, and spiritual experience for me. I became acutely aware that spiritual experiences can happen on a walk with a small child-a child who is open to the mysteries of life. It was wonderful to see and hear life through the world of children, as it gave me hope for future generations and 53 connected me to my own inner strength. Manaeement and Analysis of the Data Data were managed and analyzed according to the procedures outlined by Colaizzi (1978), Miles and Huberman (1984), Moustakas (1990), and Patton (1990). In addition, the researcher's creative process is described to document fully the description of the thematic analysis and the development of the fundamental structure. The fundamental structure is a description of the essence of the phenomenon. Manaeine and Analyzine Initially, transcription of the 12 audiotapes was carried out by a secretary who was experienced in qualitative data transcription. The secretary typed verbatim comments, including laughter, pauses, stuttering, and so forth. In addition, she did not correct grammar mistakes. After the audiotapes were transcribed, I listened to them and reviewed the transcription to correct any mistakes made by the secretary. I also listened to each participant's audiotape, and I read each transcription of the audiotape to acquire a sense of meaning about the uniqueness of each participant and also to gain a sense of the "whole." Other supplementary documentation such as the children's artwork also was studied to grasp the experience from each unique perspective, as well as a sense of the whole. After several readings of the transcribed interviews, two overarching themes 54 were inducted: (a) being and becoming and (b) being in the world with others. Being and becoming related to single-parent women's strength within the context of the family. Being in the world with others related to strength within family relationships. Significant phrases and sentences pertaining to the phenomenon of single-parent strength and family strength were color coded, and notes were made in the margins of the transcribed interview. This extraction process was pursued by examining the raw data containing the substantive comments from the participants. The following questions were posed about the data: What is this? What does this represent? Theme categories were developed over several months by reflecting and intuiting. With the use of Word Perfect 5.1 nlove and copy function, each theme category was extracted from each participant's transcribed interview, which resulted in all the data for each theme category being in one place. Consequently, it was easier to compare and contrast each participant's substantive data subsumed under each theme category. Formulated meanings were developed for each substantive statement subsumed under the theme category. An example of the substantive data and formulated meanings for the essential theme of "introspecting" is displayed in Appendix E. Simultaneously, an investigation of the derivative and original meaning of the words used to label the major thematic categories was undertaken to assure that the theme category was a conceptual fit for the substantive data. Patton (1990) suggested that the theme categories should be judged by two criteria: "internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity" (p. 403). These judgments were based on the theme category making sense and explaining a particular grouping of concepts and the theme categories being mutually exclusive to the extent that the differences among the theme categories were bold and clear. 55 The description of the essential themes was written and reworked several times. This entailed a back-and-forth process during the analysis and synthesis of the data to assure the accuracy of the theme categories and the placement of the data in the theme categories. Two of the supervisory committee members provided feedback about the themes, which was used for thinking and rewriting. Results of the data categorization were integrated into an exhaustive description of the phenomenon. The description included integration of the theme· categories of the phenomenon, as experienced collectively by the single-parent mothers and their children. A description of the phenomenon of strength for single-parent mothers was developed, and the strength from a family unit perspective was developed from the mothers' and children's perspectives. The exhaustive description of the phenomenon was formulated into a statement of its fundamental structure. In other words, the essence of the phenomenon can be revealed by a creative synthesis, which requires the researcher to capture the deeper meaning of the phenomenon through "a narrative, story, poem, work of art, metaphor, analogy, or tale" (Moustakas 1990, p. 52). For example, I captured the essence of the phenomenon of strength by writing a poem about a river. The metaphor was used to explicate the lived experience of strength 56 from the mothers' and single-parent families' perspectives. As such, the above description of the management and analysis of the data appears as if it is a linear and a mechanical process. Conversely, it is a creative process whereby the researcher works back and forth between data collection and analysis and during the analysis and synthesis of the data to verify the meaning and accuracy of the theme categories and the placement of data in the theme categories. It is a tedious and time-consuming process, but data become alive, so to speak. The researcher gains great insight not only about the phenomenon under study but about the informants themselves. Creatin& Writing and rewriting the thematic analysis have been an exhilarating, uplifting, and a peaceful experience. At other times, the creative process has been lonely, solitary, and difficult. Listening to and writing about the women's and children's stories of their strengths and vulnerabilities have reawakened and clarified for me what matters most in life. It has stretched me beyond my own expectations and dreams. I spent many hours with my thoughts, feelings, and exasperation; with my dog, Charly, who always understands me; and with my reliable computer. My other steady companions sit on my window sill, a rock and a dead ladybug, which is imprisoned between the window panes. The rock in the shape of a bone was given to me by Melody, 1 of the children in the study. During our nature walk together, she collected rocks, but she called them "fossils." This rock continues to 57 symbolize strength to me and somehow keeps me going. The ladybug remains dead in its tracks, but its red shell has not disintegrated, a symbol of staying power and strength. My solitary companions have been there as I scanned, mused, mulled, read, and listened to my own inner thoughts and feelings about the data. To break free from these periods of absorption and intensity, I took long walks along the river path with my dog, Charly. In this peaceful environment, I continued to n1ull the data in my mind. Being in a more relaxed state, insights would break through the stillness like a lighting flash illuminating the sky. My most vivid, creative breakthrough came on an inspiring morning walk. I had finished writing and rewriting the themes and fundamental structure, and I wanted to represent the phenomenon of strength through poetic expression. I had never written a poem before, and I thought to myself, "I can't do this; I'm not artistic. Maybe one of the women in the study could capture the phenomenon of strength by writing a poem; better yet, maybe one of the children could write a poem about their family." Armed with self-doubt, but feeling spring in the air and spring wi thin me, I set out on my walk. The images of spring appeared before me as though I was seeing them for the first time. The river was flowing forcefully breaking up the ice floes; the water was clear around the ice floes so one could see to the darker depths. Off in the distance a proud snowman with black teeth sat at the river's edge announcing spring had arrived in all its glory. The ducks and Canadian geese 58 called the river their home as they honked, flapped their wings with pride, and looked at people with wise knowing. When we approached the birds, some of them stood their ground and others flew in a flurry. I thought, there is strength in their staying and leaving. The visual images of spring reminded me of the strength of single-parent families. With some excitement, I ran home to fetch my camera so I could cement these images in my mind. The next morning I awoke earlier than usual, sat at my desk, and spilled the poem on paper in a matter of minutes. The observation of nature in conjunction with my intuition led me to this profound insight. I questioned why I had not seen these connections earlier, as I walk along the river every morning of nly life. Validatin& Validation was sought from 3 of the 4 families to compare my descriptive results with the participants' lived experiences. The findings were sent to each participant to read. Two of the 4 families had moved, and 1 of the families did not leave a forwarding address and they had an unlisted phone number; thus, I was unable to contact the family. The other participant who moved wrote a letter regarding her feedback about the results of the study, and I conducted another interview with the other 2 remaining families. The 3 families that I contacted offered some clarification regarding their substantive quotes. Generally, they agreed that the description of the individual and family strength was consistent and meaningful to their experience. Two families suggested that introspecting and 59 transcending were the most crucial strength for themselves. The women were emotionally moved, aware of the similarity of responses between mother and child, and amazed at some of their children's responses to the interviews. These women felt a close connection with each other and mentioned they would like to meet eventually. One of the mothers stated, "Each family appeared to go through a similar process with different experiences. " Methodoloeica1 Rieor The criteria of auditability, credibility, fittingness, and confirmability from Lincoln and Guba's (1985) conceptualization of methodological rigor for qualitative studies were used to discuss rigor pertinent to this study. Auditability is accomplished when the researcher describes the decisions that are made throughout the research project. Auditability was demonstrated in this dissertation beginning with the description of the philosophical underpinnings of the phenomenological method. Personal and theoretical assumptions were put forth. Analysis of the research question, selection of the research participants, description of procedures of data generation, management and analysis of the data, and findings are described to enhance the audit trail. Credibility refers to the criterion that is used to evaluate the truth value of qualitative studies. Credibility was met by tape recording conversations with the participants and assisting them to provide clear, vivid descriptions of their lived experiences. Participants were selected on their ability to articulate the phenomenon under study. During the conversational interviews with the 60 participants, an atmosphere of trust was created so that they could share their stories in an open, honest manner. I returned to the participants themselves during the data analysis phase to determine if my interpretations reflected accurately their experiences of family strength. Credibility was enhanced in this study because other data sources such as examples of experiences from 1 woman's journal were shared, and children's artwork was used to elucidate the phenomenon of strength within the single-parent family. During the entire study, I was cognizant of my basic assumptions about the single-parent family in today's society. Thus, I volition ally bracketed these assumptions to hear and understand fully the experiences of the participants. Fittingness is achieved when audiences other than the participants view the findings as meaningful and applicable to their own situations and when findings can fit into contexts outside the study situation. In other words, human experiences are both unique and universal, which means that your experiences are mine and my experiences are yours (Van Manen, 1990). To assess whether I captured the lived experience of strength within a single-parent family, my supervisory committee evaluated the analytical preciseness of the theme categories, exhaustive descriptions, and fundamental structure derived from the data and attested to the fittingness criteria. Another method used to meet the criterion took place when the findings regarding the individual strength of women were presented at an international nursing conference in Madrid, Spain. Positive feedback was received in the discussion period. In addition, presentation of the research findings at single-parent groups and family research conferences and future publications will assist me to validate further the phenomenon of strength within single-parent families. 61 Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggested that confirmability is the criterion of neutrality in qualitative research that refers to the findings themselves, not to the relationship the researcher establishes with the participants. Confirmability, in their estimation, is met when the category structure is clear, has explanatory power, and fits the data. Ongoing feedback will be solicited regarding the findings of this study through presentations and publications. Ethical Considerations The women and children in this study were informed of the purpose of the study and were provided with a clear description of their involvement in the study, the risks and benefits, and the plans to assure confidentiality. Following verbal description of the research project, the mothers were given a consent form to sign, and further questions were clarified at this time (see Appendix C). A verbal consent was obtained from children ages 8 to 11 years old. An assent was obtained from children who were 12 years old (see Appendix D). Confidentiality was approached in the following way: Family members' data were identified through the use of code names, which, along with audiotapes and demographic questionnaires, were destroyed/erased at the completion of the study. The primary benefit the participants may have gained from being involved 62 in this study is the sense of empowerment from telling their stories about their family strength from their perspective. Risks to family members were anticipated, in that some of their time was used, and personal information was shared with me. Family members were informed that they may refuse to answer any of the questions; they may withdraw from the study at anytime; all questions that they may have about the study will be answered to the best of my ability; and finally, copies of the final report of the study will be made available to them if they so desire. Research Limitations Phenomenological research depends upon the participant's ability to articulate vividly and with some depth his or her experiences about the phenomenon under study. The researcher must be highly skilled in the interviewing process and must possess analytical skills to deal with the massive amount of data that are accumulated in a qualitative study. Patton (1990) stated, "The human factor is the great strength and the fundamental weakness of qualitative inquiry and analysis" (p. 372). Nurses may have an advantage in qualitative research, as they are educated about and trained in the interviewing process, and they are required to work with clients of all ages in their educational programs. However, because nurse researchers live in the adult world, it may be difficult to understand the world of children from their perspective, unless the researcher gains the trust of the child. Fine and Sandstrom (1988) suggested that if the researcher can "transcend age and authority boundaries, children may provide access to their 'hidden' culture" (p. 17). One key element for this project was to interact with children in a trusted 63 way without having an explicit authority role. The case with adult participants in this phenomenological study was essentially the same. It took only a short time for the participants to develop trust in me. During the interviewing process, it was of utmost importance to develop an atmosphere of trust, openness, and authenticity so that single-parent mothers and their children could talk openly and candidly about their experiences. This was not always easy to accomplish, but every effort was made on my part to ensure that the participants were comfortable with the interviewing process. Bracketing is by no means an easy process, but it was necessary to put aside personal and theoretical assumptions to the best of my ability while studying the phenomenon. A conscious effort was made to be aware of my personal biases, to make them known to my supervisory committee members, and then to hold them in check so that the phenomenon from the participants' perspectives could be described. Summary In Chapter III, the epistemological assumptions underscoring phenomenological inquiry were discussed, a detailed outline was presented for data generation, and management and data analysis procedures were detailed. The methodological rigor pertinent to this study was discussed. Finally, ethical considerations were developed, and limitations of the study were discussed. CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS Introduction Nine essential themes were inducted during data analysis. As previously stated, data were generated through conversational interviews with 4 single-parent mothers and their 8 school-aged children. In addition, children were asked to draw a picture of their families. Interviews with the mothers and their children were conducted in a mutually agreed upon location. Interviews were transcribed by a qualified secretary, and data analysis was undertaken. Following analysis of the data, the findings were sent to each participant, and validation was sought from the mothers in the study. The first section of the chapter describes the families in the study. Next, the essential themes are presented with illustrative quotes from the mothers and children. Finally, the fundamental structure and creative synthesis in the form of a poem are presented. The Families The families in this study were selected on the basis of their experience of strength and their ability to articulate this experience. The family's eligibility for the study was evaluated based on a telephone call in which I briefly described the 65 study and then asked if the mothers could describe any experiences of strength. After confirmation with the mothers, I suggested they discuss the study with their children to gain their willingness to participate. The sample was selected from recommendations made by colleagues and friends. In 1 case, I selected a mother I had known. The sample included 4 families, 12 participants in all. The mothers' ages ranged from 29 to 40 years old. Their average income was from below $20,000 to $40,000 dollars per year. Educational preparation varied: One mother enrolled in grade 12; 1 mother completed 1 year of college and then married; another mother completed a university degree and is presently enrolled in art therapy school; and 1 mother completed a master's degree. The number of hours worked outside the home ranged from 5 hours to 37 hours. Three of the 4 families organized child care privately, and for 1 family day-care was provided. Three of the 4 families had little or no involvement with the fathers. In the 4th family, the children spent part of every weekend with the father. Three of the mothers had been divorced from 5 to 6 years, and the other mother had been separated for 4 years before divorcing. In order to acquaint one with the uniqueness of each family, a brief description follows. The mothers and children were assigned fictitious names by me to protect their anonymity. Judith is 29 years old with sparkling brown eyes and energy to burn. Her daughter, Melody, is 8 years old, a free spirit who is curious, sociable, and 66 interested in life around her. Melody has many friends her own age, and she has little difficulty conversing with adults. Judith has a master's degree in nursing, works part time as a nursing instructor, and does clinical work at a hospital. In order to make mortgage payments, she has a female roommate who sometimes baby-sits Melody. During the duration of this research project, Judith's father was diagnosed with cancer and eventually died. Judith and Melody have grieved the loss of a father and a grandfather. On the 1st-year anniversary date of his death, Judith went home to her parents' farm and planted flowers in his remembrance. She has periods of time when she must grieve her loss in solitude. Her future goal is to pursue education at the PhD level. Lynn is 33 years old and has a degree in nursing. She is presently pursuing a degree in art therapy. Previously, she worked at a children's hospital in the mental health field. She has two children; Shane is 10 years old and Elizabeth is 8 years old. Shane is a quiet, polite young man who is interested in his peers. He plays with his sister when there is no one else available. Elizabeth is a delightful child who dabbles in imaginative play with her young friends. The children spend weekends with their father, which they enjoy because there are young children to play with in the father's home. Lynn and her children have settled into their new life in another Canadian city. Ann is 40 years old and has been separated from her husband for 4 years. She works 10 to 20 hours a week as a volunteer school aide. Her divorce is final, 67 and she is contemplating further education. Ann speaks with confidence and laughs easily. She has two children: a 9-year-old daughter, Nancy, and a son, Bob, who is not quite 8 years old. Nancy is a thoughtful, introspective child who is very artistic. She likes to write poems, stories, and plays. Bob is mechanically inclined and likes to collect "things." Susan is a determined, courageous woman of 32 years with three daughters: Angela, Lori, and Bekki. Susan described her own childhood as a "death camp experience" and is determined to make life better for her own children. Currently, she is trying to complete grade 12 but finds school difficult because of a "learning disability." She also works as a part-time receptionist. Her three daughters are enjoyable to be around, and they take pride in their mother's determination to finish school. Angela, the 13-year-old daughter, has more responsibility and privileges, which she accepts. There is a close affinity between Lori and Bekki; they are similar in age (8 and 9 years old, respectively); they walk to school together and play with one another. Generally, this family is a cohesive unit in which sharing and caring about one another are valued. The Findina:s Single-parent women have discovered that to be human is to be in the world and in a relationship with someone. The experience of strength is not a solitary pursuit but rather is experienced through connectedness with the self and their families, friends, and universe. The experience of loss through a divorce served as an awakening, moving 68 the women to new levels of being and becoming and being in the world with others. De Beauvoir (1963) stated, "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" (p. 267). The experience of inner strength for these women was gained looking inward by (a) introspecting to discover self; (b) emoting to develop a deeper understanding of their real selves; (c) knowing that grew out of their embedded ness in human relationships; (d) finding freedom to create their own destiny as well as to shape their children's destiny; (e) gaining resilience in order to adjust, change, and overcome adversity; and (f) transcending the limits of ordinary experience and understanding. The women's strength sustained the family and is reflected in the following themes: (a) cocreating family harmony, (b) sharing family power, and (c) connecting humanely. Introspectine Looking inward to find strength was a vital experience for the participants. Through introspection, the women discovered self. According to the Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy, introspection derives from the Latin "intro, inward, within, into, and specere look" that means "giving mental attention to one's mind, self, or consciousness" (Angeles, 1992, p. 149). Judith. Judith, a nurse who recently completed her master's degree in nursing, began her introspection by entering the stillness of the self and writing in a private journal. Writing became a "long-term relationship" with herself and provided a means whereby she moved beyond the uncomfortable feelings of the past to a new sense of self, a self that incorporated being a parent. In her own words, Judith described her growth experience: And when I was first on my own, I had a lot of feelings. I felt very guilty, sad, and afraid and many of the feelings that people do feel when they are on their own. It was very therapeutic for me to write it. But it was also very therapeutic to go back and read and see that a year ago these were some of the issues that I was struggling with, and now they are not. . . . And I have moved beyond them and I guess I could see growth in myself . . . of how overwhelmed I felt at first being a parent. Judith's writing experience also became a place in which she protected her inner self from outside interference in order to find her true self. But after that when I was on my own, I wrote almost every day, and it got to be like a long-term relationship. It was a period of time that I could just let my feelings be there and nobody could criticize it or judge it nor would I have to pretend. Being alone assisted Judith with the awareness of her deepest feelings and 69 the search for her authentic being. Her journal provided a safe place in which she could self-disclose without any fear of judgment. The following excerpt vividly describes her experience: I find when I write I don't think; I just let myself feel it and write it so that I try not to let my defenses get in the way even when I talk with another person; I always was concerned what they would think or say. . .. So this [writing] was something that was very safe; and the only rule that I had was that I had to be very truthful. Lynn. Lynn, a nurse who decided to study art therapy to further her personal and professional development, captured the essence of introspection in a somewhat different way. Upon renection, Lynn realized that in her marriage she was responsible for everything that moved her from her center. Her husband was another child in her eyes; someone she had to care for. After her divorce, she described herself as having a more balanced disposition. Lynn described her movement to self-possession in the following way: Our relationship was very conflictual. It was like 1 had another kid . . . things that 1 remember are trying to get the kids off so 1 could go to school and the kids to day-care; and they would say, well Mommy how come 1 have to go, Daddy's in bed? [I would answer] 'Cause he has been out all night ... so it was very stressful, and to end the relationship was a relief. 1 was more unhappy then, and now I'm more even keeled than 1 used to be back then. 70 Lynn recognized that she was an introvert, and even during aerobics classes she would go inward to reveal herself to herself. She divulged: It's relaxing and it's [aerobics] a release, and it is on my own; I'm an introvert and 1 don't know if that makes a difference. It probably does. I get my strength from being on my own. 1 can regroup and then I can go out again .... That can be part of it ... 1 need time to pull within and then I'm ready to go back out again. Counselling over the years was helpful for Lynn in that access to self opened up new ways of understanding her growth. Counselling provided a means to discover what issues she needed to deal with; even if the issues were not dealt with, Lynn believed she knew what they were. 1 needed counselling to walk away from that relationship [husband]. I needed permission that 1 could do that because it was a lot of guilt. It was an abusive relationship; and so he would come back ... [and tell me] 1 love you and then I would go and always give into it; and so 1 needed counselling and someone to say that yes, you can do that and you are not doing a bad thing. Recently, with some trepidation, Lynn decided to leave nursing and enter art therapy school. She has turned to artistic endeavors in her search for self-expression and the creation of a new beginning. Lynn's search for herself, which has come from creative activity springing from within, has opened up a whole new 71 world for her and has given her a sense of accomplishment. She talked hesitantly about a project that she made in her art class, which she described as her beginning: Right now I'm making this thing; it kind of looks like the shape of a fish but more like a tadpole; there's no details, it's more of a form, of a ... and then there's little fins down there, and it's called the beginning .... Ann. Ann, a busy volunteer at her children's school and a self-professed extrovert, realized that she needed solitude as well to return to the self. She acknowledged that after a busy day she needed a quiet place with no distractions from her children in order to gain composure: I think that I know my own limitations; and when I feel my nerves are getting frazzled . . . I need to take a break; lots of time it's the bathroom, that's my screaming closet. I will lock myself in the bathroom and take a book and read it or in my room because it has a locked door as well. And, I will take 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, however long I need to take, so that I don't lose it. If I don't lose it, they [children] don't lose it usually. Ann created a separate physical space, as well as a psychological space, to return to the self. Her self-talk affirmed her being as a person and a mother. Particularly in the last 4 or 5 years, I do a lot of positive thoughts to myself. I do a lot of, ... I can, I can, I am, I will. . . . And everyone in the household is expected to do certain jobs because monlmy is not a slave around here. Susan. Susan reflected on her childhood as a "death camp experience," as she was raised in her early years in an abusive, alcoholic family. She subsequently went into foster care and finally became a "street kid." With the help of therapy, she has examined her past life and gained insight. She realized that she married to find a father, a father she never had. She commented: When I married my ex, it was for a father figure which I didn't have. I was not raised with a father and he [husband] just happened to fit the bill at the time. Of course, at the time I would never have admitted to that, but now looking back ... I can. Susan has been able to inspect her inner being and in doing so has discovered that she had an inner vitality and power to act on her own behalf and that of her children. She summed it up in the following way: When I was married, I was a mouse. Now that I'm not, people can't shut me up. When I was younger, I was raised that you are seen and not heard. And I lived that role until I got separated, and I started to get angry back at the world, at everybody, and I said, enough is enough. 72 In dialogue with herself, Susan questioned her very existence. She was able to identify some of her life's goals but pondered her future: "I question what is my whole purpose in life. Why am I here? And I think I did what I was supposed to do, I was supposed to multiply, so I did, 3 times. . . . Now what do I do?" Introspection involved looking inward to discover their essential nature as women in conjunction with their parenting self. The experience of separateness by inward looking granted an opportunity for these women to become connected to their inner selves. Emotin& Emotion derives from Latin " emovere , remove, shake, stir up" (Angeles, 1992, p. 84). According to Bradshaw (1988), emotions are forms of energy that are "direct expressions of reality as opposed to thoughts which translate or analyze 73 our experience. Emotions give important information about what we need to do, what we want or how we want to change" (p. 44). The process of emoting was a way of experiencing the authentic self, a feeling self in all its profundity. Listening, trusting inner feelings in a quiet, still space moved these women to a deeper place. Feelings of sadness, anger, vulnerability, and love weaved through the women's lives as they worked through their own losses and the losses their children were experiencing. Not only were the women experiencing losses associated with divorce, but they also were responding to recent and forthcoming moves, domestic crises, terminal illness, and death of parents. Judith. Judith did not retreat from the pain of her divorce; instead she embodied her sadness so that healing could take place. Judith illustrated this by talking about her divorce in the following way: But I think one of the things that I really learned over the past 6 years of being on my own and going through a divorce and what not is that if you don't feel your loss and your feelings when they happen, you will feel them sometime eventually. The first year when I was on my own, when I was sad, I just let myself feel as much as I could; and if I was crying, I would let myself cry as long and as hard as I needed to. And I would not try to pretend that I was not feeling it. For Judith, feelings of sadness had not only been associated with divorce but most recently Judith was coping with the terminal illness and eventual death of her father. During the grieving process, she invited sorrow to enter her being by listening to sad music and having a cup of tea. She believed that music connected her to her emotional self, a self that experienced true, deep feelings-a healing place. In conversation with Judith, she described her experience of sadness that coexisted with a sense of peacefulness. I think that music helps me a lot because to me music is something that is very emotional. It connects in with your emotion. So if I'm feeling down or sort of sad, that's the kind of music I listen to .... Music is almost a facilitator to those feelings. And yet it is something that is almost enjoyable in a sense; it's okay just to sit and put some sad music on and have a cup of tea . . . and feel sad for the evening. Because to me, it is very healthy to feel sad if something is wrong. Judith believes that the expression of sad feelings is important; but on the other 74 hand, these feelings should not entirely consume one's total being. There is more to life than being sad all the time. However, crying is an important way to express one's true feelings, one's authentic being. The ability to express one's emotions outwardly is a strength. "My crying does not mean that I'm weak. . . . It just means that I'm sad and that I need to cry and that to me is okay; it helps me to let go of some of that [sad feelings] and to feel better then." Judith's family tried every possible treatment to abet her father's cancer. As a last resort, a trip to a health clinic in Mexico was undertaken. Hope was fundamental to Judith's being, as she would not give up until her father's eventual death. With a voice full of feeling, she stated: "I have not totally given up hope either, which I don't know is good or bad, but that's just how I am. I won't give up hope until there