Role ambiguity among women providing care for ex-husbands.
Twenty-one women were interviewed regarding their caregiving experiences for ill or dying ex-husbands. Emergent in the analyses was the variety of ways in which they experienced role ambiguity as ex-wife caregivers. This article describes the role ambiguity ex-wife caregivers encountered interpersonally through interactions with network members, institutionally in dealing with professionals and the workplace, and intrapersonally in confusion over their roles and feelings. Consequences of role ambiguity are discussed, and recommendations for policy and practice are made in light of the aging population, changing family forms, and women's care roles.
a Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Denver , CO.
Teresa M
TM
Cooney
Christine M
CM
Proulx
Linley A
LA
Snyder-Rivas
Jacquelyn J
JJ
Benson
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004243:Divorce; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012380:Role; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses