중년남성의 배우자 사별과정 : 질병으로 인한 배우자 사별을 중심으로

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a theory regarding the structure and process of spousal bereavement experiences of middle-aged men. For this purpose, the investigator conducted interviews with eight middle-aged men that were bereaved of their wives less than three years. The grounded theory method was applied to data collected with in-depth interviews with them for analysis. As a result of analyzing the data, a total of 151 concepts, 48 subcategories, and 16 categories, were derived. The categories were analyzed with a paradigm, and the results reveal the following causal conditions in the spousal bereavement process of middle-aged men: “weary and tired life due to care,” “desperation for my wife's complete recovery,” “sense of crisis for my wife's death is hitting me,” and “feeling powerless in the face of my wife's death.” The central phenomenon was “desperation after the collapse of my world.” The contextual conditions include “limitations of my role as the head of household that I should endure by myself” and “my interpersonal relationships have been withdrawn as I am conscious of others.” The interventional conditions include “my personal adaptive internal resources,” “my family as my rock in life,” and “supports from the social support network.” The action/reaction strategies include “having conscious distance from the reality of bereavement,” “my ongoing internal relations with my wife,” and “realistic efforts to keep living my life.” The outcomes include “improving self-acceptance to bereavement,” “establishment of life reconstruction,” and “my life of bereavement still in progress.” The core category appeared as “living with the despair of a lost wife and facing the bereavement reality,” and the process analysis result was a total of 5 stages of “overwhelming, avoidance, contact, facing, and reestablishment.” The results of this study help explain the process of bereavement of spouses in middle-aged men and can be used to draw attention to the social and psychological process of families after bereavement. It is also expected to be used to establish a more systematic and professional pastoral counseling approach and support system to support the psychological health of middle-aged men who have lost their spouses.