LifeExperiences and the Factors Used by the Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities to Forgive Others

Abstract

This study examined the life experiences and the factors that mothers of children with intellectual disabilities used to forgive others.For this purpose, a qualitative method was used. 20 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, who referred to the Department of Education to complete their children's assessment data, were selected randomly. To gather data,semi-structure interview was used. These mothers were interviewed up to the saturation point. Dataanalysisthroughopencodeanddeterminingthemajor and minorpropositionsshowedthat mothers of children with intellectual disabilities used spiritual resources, internal resources, and social interests and resources to forgive others. These findings indicate that the rich content in the Iranian-Islamic culture help the mothers of children with intellectual disabilities to forgive others.

Keywords

• mothers of children with intellectual disabilities
• forgiveness
• life experience
• iranian culture