Isolation and Its Impact on Widows

Insights from Low-Resourced Communities in Binga District, Zimbabwe

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5935884
AutoresMedelina Dube (0000-0002-2635-2640, North-West University, autor correspondente), Misheck Dube
Ano2022
Volume11
Fascículo7
Páginas298
Data de publicação2022-07-11
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci11070298
OpenAlexW4285094799
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas7
Referências citadas21

The lives of women change immediately after the death of their husbands. After the death of their husbands, they experience extraordinary isolation which excludes them from important socioeconomic decisions. This paper discusses how widows are isolated and excluded in pertinent socioeconomic spheres and decisions that impact negatively on their lives including the lives of their children in low resourced communities of Binga District in Zimbabwe. Twenty-four widows were participants in this study, which used a qualitative research approach, a phenomenological research design and purposive sampling strategy. Ten widows participated in individual interviews whilst fourteen widows participated in two separate focus group interviews comprising seven widows each to provide insights on how they were isolated after the death of their husbands. Germain to isolation, thematic data analysis findings revealed that, upon the death of their husbands, widows are vulnerable to exclusion from critical decisions on accrued wealth, socioeconomic amenities and activities needed for their optimal well-being and the welfare of their children. The findings show the need for negotiated professional and community social interventions that are organised and integrated

Economic growth · Environmental health · Focus group · Isolation (microbiology · Nonprobability sampling · Political science · Population · Poverty · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Qualitative research · Social isolation · Social science · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Welfare · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology