A Research on the Causes and Consequences of Divorced Women's Custody Using Grounded Theory

Abstract

One of the most important quantitative and qualitative changes in the contemporary family is the phenomenon of women's custody, which has a growing trend. In the framework of gender studies and with reference to the feminist theory approach, the article examines the causes and consequences of custody as a social issue. Methodologically, the study was conducted with the Grounded theory approach and using the research interview technique. The samples are divorced women in Marivan city. Using purposive sampling and theoretical sampling, 20 people were interviewed. The finding is based on a paradigm model and is analyzed by extracting 13 central categories in the data coding process. "Socio-legal determinism" and "maternal emotions" are categories that imply causal conditions. "Class status" and "spouse child" as contextual conditions; and "Marital disputes", "men's inability to pay for family expenses" and "domestic violence" play a role as interfering conditions. The consequences of custody are reflected in the categories of "increasing poverty", "role pressure", "dependence" and "feeling of abandonment". Finally, the women react to the situation with dual strategies of "despair" and "tolerance". "Despair" represents subjective confrontation and "tolerance" means the objective acceptance of the custody.‌Keywords Female Head of Household, Custody, Divorced Women, Grounded Theory, Marivan. ‌‌IntroductionWomen's custody is one of the most important changes that have occurred in the construction of the contemporary family. This phenomenon, as a result of the decline of the extended family and the growth of the nuclear family, along with changes such as the decrease in the fertility rate and the size of the family, the increase in divorce and the growth of the single-parent family, has been considered as a new subject in recent social sciences (Abbott & Vallace, 1997; Chant, 2007). In this regard, the study examines the narrative of custody women about their lived experience by posing two central questions: 1) Divorced women who are covered by the Relief Committee Organization, why and how did they get custody of their children? And 2) what are the consequences of this responsibility for them and how do they face it?. MethodologyThe article examines the causes and consequences of this phenomenon as a social issue in the framework of gender studies, specifically by referring to feminist theory. Feminist criticism, especially its radical approach, is mainly focused on the institution of the family, which is organized based on patriarchal values (De Beauvoir, 2010). Radical feminism argues that men not only exploit women through free domestic work but also prevent them from accessing positions of power and influence in society (Giddens & Birdsall, 2001: 168). In the absence of common role patterns and when performing tasks such as guardianship and custody, women face unknown and difficult situations due to subordination and lack of educational and training experiences and are caught in the flood of economic and social crises. Therefore, it is as a result of such gender structure and discourse that the phenomenon of custody of women becomes problematic. In addition, the pathological consequences of women's custody have been discussed in the theory of "feminization of poverty". According to this theory, the different experiences that female heads of households have of poverty, have fueled the discourse of the "feminization of poverty" (Chant, 2007 and Mwangi, 2017). Another approach is the theory of “role conflict and pressure theory" (Rosenfield, 1989). This theory argues that female heads of the household suffer from role conflict and role pressure due to simultaneously playing the role of "breadwinner" and "housekeeper". The problem of the female heads of the household has also been considered from the perspective of Marxist theory and class analysis. The problem of female heads of the household has also been considered from the perspective of Marxist theory. According to this approach, age, gender, or racial and ethnic characteristics do not necessarily have a direct relationship with poverty, rather it is the class position that determines what resources and facilities women have access to. It can be argued that the understanding and validity of the "feminization of poverty" and "role conflict and pressure" Theories, ultimately require reference to feminist theory. The discourse of patriarchy through the subjugation and exploitation of women as well as symbolic violence in socialization processes leads to gender discrimination and the degradation of women's status and the creation of the issue of custodial women. The discourse of patriarchy through the subjugation and exploitation of women as well as symbolic violence in socialization processes leads to gender discrimination and the degradation of women's status and creates the problem of women's custody. In such conditions, women's impoverishment processes and their role conflicts are produced and reproduced in society. FindingsThe research has been implemented with a qualitative approach and using the Grounded Theory methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Corbin, & Strauss, 1998). The data has been collected through the qualitative interview technique and also based on the lived experience and field observations of the researchers. The method of sampling and determination of samples is based on Grounded Theory methodology: 1) Purposive sampling and 2) Theoretical Sampling (Flick, 2006). In Purposive Sampling, the structure of the sample (in terms of age, age of marriage, and the number of children), and in Theoretical Sampling, the number of samples, how to select them, and the combination of experimental information in the process of data gathering and interpreting has been specified. According to the "theoretical satisfaction" rule, 20 people from "divorced women covered by Marivan Relief Committee" were interviewed. Also, the Grounded Theory coding methods (including open, axial and selective coding) have been used in the data analysis. ResultThe findings have been analyzed and interpreted based on a paradigmatic model and by extracting 13 core categories in the data coding process: Social-legal compulsion and maternal emotions explain the "causes of custody". Class status and marital child are “Contextual conditions"; and marital disputes, men's inability to provide family expenses and domestic violence are "intervening factors". The "consequences" are reflected in the categories of increasing poverty, role pressure, dependence and feeling of abandonment. Finally, women react to custody through the dual strategies of "desperation" and "tolerance", which is a reflection of subjective encounter and objective acceptance. In general, it can be argued that the results are an empirical test for the assumptions of Class Theory and especially Feminist Theory. Although the former should be analyzed with caution (due to the class homogeneity of the studied sample), the claims of the latter are confirmed in an empirical and concrete way by thinking about the causal causes (Social-legal compulsion and maternal emotions), Contextual conditions (marital child), intervening factors (breadwinner role and domestic violence) and especially the consequences (poverty, role pressure, dependence and feeling of abandonment).

Keywords

• female head of household
• custody
• divorced women
• grounded theory
• marivan