A Study on the Meaning of their Marriage and Changes in Marital Life as Perceived by Reunited Women after Divorce
AUTHOR : 임춘희
INFORMATION : page. 1~27 / 2013 Vol.20 No.1
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of their marriage and changes in marital life as perceived by reunited women after reuniting following divorce. For the purpose of this study, 5 women reunited after divorce were interviewed and the data thus collected was analyzed by means of Giorgi's phenomenological method. The results indicated that the meaning of marriage as perceived by the participants could be categorized as follows: ‘trial and error- fate’, ‘pitiful attachment’, ‘reason for being parents’, and ‘a relation necessary for social approval but being tied together with decreased levels of intimacy’. The changes in marital life after reuniting as perceived by reunited women were classified by the following 6 themes: ‘stronger woman and weaker man’, ‘not to be closer but never breakable marital relationship’, ‘regained happiness in parent-children relationships’, ‘homeostasis in marital life pattern’, ‘an effort for developing a more positive couple relationship’, ‘clarification of family boundary’. The results of this study revealed that reuniting could be a positive alternative choice after divorce in many ways, though it might not be a fully satisfying marriage from the perspective of reunited women.