Resilience stories of women lived under harsh circumstances

The purpose of this study was to examine resilience stories of women lived under harsh circumstances; the study explored these women's experiences to delineate protective and risk factors in their stories. This study intended to thoroughly examine stories of late adult women with crucial risk factors and who have remarkably defeated these risk factors. A convenient sample of 16 women aging ranging between 50-70 years heterogeneous backgrounds and living in different regions of Turkey. Semi-Structured Interview Form prepared by the researcher which was used for data collection through online interviews. The form involves questions about the participants' life stories, their childhood and past lives, the difficulties they have experienced and their struggles, their support system and the factors that might influence their developmental outcomes. Analysis which resulted in five main themes. These themes were; (1) strength, (2) perceptions of current and past life, (3) protective factors, and (4) risk factors. Each theme has sub-themes. The findings were examined under these themes and sub-themes. The results showed that women experience many problems in society and some individual, economic and family factors contribute to their coping. One striking finding was the presence of strong personal characteristics. The results of the study, its limitations, implications, and recommendations for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers were discussed.