The Stigmatization of The Divorced Individuals

Abstract

When the studies on divorce are examined, it is understood that the act of divorce causes stigmatization of individuals. Studies show that divorced individuals are stigmatized with different stigmatizing concepts in different cultures. What makes this study different from other studies is that it reveals which concepts and how divorced individuals in Turkey are stigmatized. The research problem is about the lived experiences of individuals and requires in-depth knowledge about these lived experiences. For this reason, the qualitative research method was preferred as the research method. Phenomenology was used as the research design in this study carried out with the qualitative research method. Phenomenology focuses on the experiences which are the related phenomenon of individuals who have experienced phenomena that we have noticed but do not have a deep understanding of, and provides gaining in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon under research. Thematic qualitative data analysis was applied to the data collected in a city located in the northwest of Turkey, and stigmatizing concepts were revealed by reaching the themes from the codes. In this study, it was concluded that divorced men are stigmatized with 3 concepts and divorced women are stigmatized with 3 concepts that are different from the concepts that stigmatize men. It has been seen that these stigmatizing concepts are semantically opposite to the concepts that constitute male and female identities. In addition, it was concluded that this stigmatization process occurs with the thought that women and men fail to fulfill their gender roles.