Widowhood and associated risks in under-resourced communities: A Social Work Perspective

Misheck Dube

doi:10.47577/tssj.v26i1.5226

Abstract

The perpetual growth in the population of widows globally signals the need for systematic research and interrogation of the phenomenon of widowhood. Under-resourced communities have been side-lined from imperative investigations and systematic documentation to inform practice. This article discusses the risks associated with widowhood in under-resourced communities of Binga District in Zimbabwe. Following a qualitative research approach and a phenomenological research design, purposive sampling was employed to engage ten widows in one-on-one in-depth interviews. Data were analysed thematically and backed up by existing literature to provide thick descriptions. The findings of the study indicated that widows were exposed to an arsenal of health, psychological, social and economic risks. Many of the risks associated with widowhood are exacerbated by lack of supportive environments and provision of conducive environment to trigger proper adaptation mechanism especially among the young widows in under-resourced communities. The conclusions reached were that widowhood risk factors continue to increase among widows in under-resourced communities impacting negatively on optimal living and adaptation with the widows’ circumstances.

Highlights

There are numerous reasons and situations that cause widowhood and place strain on coping abilities of the widowed women
4.1 Population of the study In the study, the population comprised of widows who had lived experiences of risks associated with widowhood in Binga District
The section that follows provides a discussion of the findings regarding the health, psychological, social and economic risks associated with widowhood in under-resourced community of Binga District

Summary

Introduction

There are numerous reasons and situations that cause widowhood and place strain on coping abilities of the widowed women. The definition of a widow has been extended by some countries due to high incidences of cohabitation, civil unions and partnerships, to mean those who have survived without their long term partners due to death (Chamie, 2021). It is a fact that widowhood is a phenomenon both in the developed and developing countries with men and women impacted differently. Analysing from a statistical perspective, the number of widowed persons globally stands approximately at 350 million people Chamie, 2021). Research has revealed that of the 350 million widowed persons, approximately 248 million are women, depicting the higher numbers of widows than widowers in the world (United Nations (UN) Women, 2021). In Africa, one in ten women of 15 years and older are said to be widowed (Djuikom & van de Walle, 2018)

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion