Omega (Westport). 2013;68(2):123-41. doi: 10.2190/om.68.2.c.
This study examined the distinctly gendered experiences of young widowers. Using qualitative longitudinal data from the 1960's Harvard Bereavement Study, we evaluated the interview transcripts of 19 widowers (median age = 38) who had been interviewed 3 weeks, 8 weeks, 13 months, and 2-4 years after the wife's death. Our findings indicate that the off-time spousal loss ruptured the ontological security that marriage provided and created two types of difficult situations for the widowers. Coping with deep sadness and grief, the men divulged their unspoken dependency on their marriage and on their late wife. They also struggled as single fathers, especially if they tried to singlehandedly care for their children. Becoming an off-time widower in the 1960s compelled the men to reclaim their masculine identity. Men's identity-rebuilding strategies involved promptly returning to work, and many men began dating and repartnering to recoup the normalcy of being married.
本研究考察了年轻鳏夫明显的性别化经历。我们使用了 20 世纪 60 年代哈佛丧亲研究的纵向定性数据，评估了 19 位鳏夫（中位数年龄为 38 岁）的访谈记录，这些鳏夫在妻子去世后 3 周、8 周、13 个月和 2-4 年接受了访谈。我们的研究结果表明，丧偶时间的错位打破了婚姻提供的本体安全感，并给鳏夫们带来了两种困难情况。为了应对深深的悲伤和悲痛，这些男性吐露了他们对婚姻和已故妻子的未说出口的依赖。他们作为单身父亲也很艰难，尤其是如果他们试图独自照顾孩子的话。在 20 世纪 60 年代，成为一个丧偶时间错位的鳏夫迫使男性重新找回自己的男性身份。男性身份重建策略包括迅速重返工作岗位，许多男性开始约会和重新寻找伴侣，以恢复已婚的正常状态。
