Investigation of divorce experiences of divorced mothers with mentally handicapped children

The aim of the study is to determine the perceptions of divorced mothers with mentally retarded children regarding their experiences in the divorce process from their own perspectives and to evaluate them in terms of physical, social, cognitive, affective and spiritual dimensions. The study group of the research, which was carried out with a phenomenological approach in a qualitative design, consists of 30 divorced, non-disabled women who have completed the age of eighteen. Data were obtained through in-depth semi-structured interviews using a semi-structured interview form. The data of the research were analyzed using the MAXQDA 2020 qualitative data analysis program. The analysis of the data revealed three themes: mothers' experiences before divorce, mothers' experiences during the divorce process, and mothers' post-divorce experiences. According to the research, lack of emotional intimacy, high care burden, sexist division of labor, psychological pressure from the spouse, irrelevant and irresponsible behavior of the spouse, violence, and financial problems negatively affect spouses' relationships with each other. The mother's devotion to her child, the father's refusal to accept the child's special situation and running away from home, his irrelevant and irresponsible behavior, and disagreements in the child's education and treatment processes are the problems that originate from the mentally disabled child in the relationship. The mother's inability to work due to the child's care burden, the additional expenses arising due to the child's disability, the father's irregular income, money management, and unconscious behaviors regarding expenditures increase the family's economic problems. Half of the mothers experienced psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety. Fathers' irresponsible behavior, indifference, cheating, violence, living away from home, abandonment, alcohol use, involvement of relatives in family relations, economic problems, jealousy, conflicts of opinion, blame, alienation, gambling, and pornography lead to divorce. Divorce occurs under the influence of multiple factors. Almost half of the families divorced during the period of families with children in adolescence. Mothers' thoughts about the well-being and development of their mentally disabled child, being left alone, being blamed, wanting to benefit from social and economic rights arising from the child's disability, father's inability to accept the child's mental disability, leaving home because she has a mentally disabled child, violence against the mentally disabled child, irresponsibility, and disappointment are the factors that take their source from the mentally retarded child in divorce. A mentally retarded child is a factor that delays divorce. As a caregiver, the mother neglects herself and the father alienates his child. After divorce, mothers experience more positive emotions and generally feel happy, peaceful, free, proud, comfortable, satisfied, and valuable.