| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 社會工作學研究所 === 102 === With the rising divorce rate, the issue of single mothers is attracting more attention. The primary aim of this study is to understand the role of the mother following their daughters’ divorce process, and to explore their interactions and relationships. The results of this study should provide social workers with reference in their practical work.
This research used the in-depth interview to collect nine single mothers'' life stories, and analyzed the transcripts by narrative analysis. The selection criteria of research participants included: Divorced over two years and not having remarried; having custody of children under 18 years of age; currently receiving or had been receiving social welfare resources.
The main findings in this study are as follows:
1. When the research participants consider whether or not to divorce, the role of the women’s mothers is still influenced by traditional Chinese culture. Their mothers ask them not to divorce, to avoid being labeled a ‘bad mother’. However, after the mothers learn about their daughter’s sacrifices in marriage, their affection pushes them to get rid of the shackles of traditional culture. In the end, they support their daughters’ decision to divorce.
2. In the fight for custody, most mothers disapprove of their daughters raising children alone because they do not want to see their daughters having difficult lives. But if there are other people in the family who could help to take care of the grandchildren, they would be less worried about this challenge.
3. In the process of returning to the original family, the role of the research participants’ mothers is restricted to the traditional gender division of labor: listening and domestic support. As for the economic support, these mothers need to provide secretly or receive agreement from other people in the family. Due to the traditional "face" concept and the Chinese culture, some mothers choose to maintain boundaries with their daughters.
4. There are two types of mother-daughter relationships in the divorce process:
‘before the divorce - to adapt - improved’or‘remain unchanged’.
5. The divorce process, for those who grew up in single-parent family is not the same.
6. Social welfare resources and siblings are the important support force for single mothers.
This study suggests that social workers should not only empower single mothers, but also to empower their families so that these families can have strengths to support single mothers in the divorce process. In addition, social workers can help single mothers to understand that their mother’s affection and behavior do not all stem from personal thinking, but are strongly influenced by cultural considerations.
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