A qualitative study on the perspective of the society towards divorced women: The case of Trabzon

Social life affects the lives of individuals. Because society is a structure formed as a result of individuals coming together. In this structure, acts such as marriage and divorce are usually carried out with social acceptance. Divorce is a social phenomenon that occurs upon the termination of the marriage union. As in marriage, society imposes different roles on individuals in the context of gender after divorce. The behavioral patterns that men and women encounter after divorce and that society expects from them can differ at this point. In this context, it can be said that gender is one of the most important factors shaping the perspective of divorce. This factor shapes the meanings, attitudes and behaviors attributed to divorced men and women. This situation often causes an inequality between the two sexes. This inequality is seen more clearly in societies within the patriarchal structure. It was thought that learning about which subjects a woman is in an advantageous or disadvantageous position in the society may have a very important place in the life of the individual. In addition, it was wondered what kind of attitudes the woman might face in the society in case of divorce, and a research was carried out in this direction. In our study, the perspective of the society towards divorced women was examined. In this context, the phenological research design of the qualitative research method was used. Participants were reached as a result of a snowball sampling study. A total of 18 participants were interviewed. Data satisfaction was taken as a criterion in determining the number of people. Trabzon province was chosen as the field study area. In order to understand what the investigated phenomenon is and to reveal it in detail, an in-depth interview was conducted with a study group consisting of 11 men and 7 women living in Trabzon. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured interview technique. The findings obtained as a result of the research were analyzed with the NVIVO 12 analysis program. The data obtained as a result of the analysis were explained, discussed and interpreted by comparing with the literature. According to the results obtained, it was seen that there was a positive change in the status of women in society. As a result of this change, it has been determined that there is a positive trend in the social perspective towards the divorced woman. However, it is not possible to talk about a complete change and a positive attitude. Because, it has been observed that the majority of the people have a negative perspective towards divorced women. As a result of this negative perspective, it was observed that the divorced woman experienced a loss of prestige and experienced many sociological, psychological and economic problems within the socio-cultural structure. It is thought that this situation has a lowering effect on the living standards of the divorced woman. Keywords: Family, Women, Divorce, Gender inequality, Trabzon