A qualitative study on the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on family relationships: The case of Bursa province

The concept of family takes place in many societies from past to present. One of the elements that make up the smallest part of society is the family. The family institution has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that started in 2019. The social isolation imposed by the curfews brought by the pandemic, the changes in working life, the temporary closure of schools and kindergartens have caused many changes in the lives of families. In this study, the reflection of the Covid-19 pandemic on family relations is discussed. The study aims to understand and evaluate the changes in the lives and family relationships of families with low socio-economic status (receiving social assistance) living within the borders of Bursa province during the pandemic process. Qualitative research method and semi-structured interview in order to examine the opinions of the participating families on the topics of economic problems, domestic violence, family relations, divorce status, alcohol, tobacco and substance addiction, involvement in crime and socialization during the Covid-19 pandemic process. technique has been used. The sample group was determined by the snowball sampling method, which is one of the purposeful sampling techniques used in qualitative research designs. There are 48 families in the study. 13 of the families reached could not be interviewed due to reasons such as the spouse's disapproval and language problems. Interviews were conducted face to face. After the transcriptions of the audio recordings were made in the Word program, the MAXQDA ANALYTICS PRO 2020 program was used in the analysis process of the research. Codes are assigned to the transcripts uploaded to the program. Sub-hierarchical codes have been added to the assigned codes. The reflection of the Covid-19 pandemic on family relations has been evaluated in accordance with literature reviews, research questions and research findings. In the study, it was observed that the pandemic process affected the living conditions of families negatively (domestic violence, thoughts of divorce, tobacco, alcohol, and substance use increased). In addition, curfews, which are one of the measures taken in certain time periods and on weekends, have caused an increase in the time spent together in the family. It has been concluded that this situation increases the conflicts in parent-child relationship and spousal relations. In addition, it is another result of the study that the increase in the time spent at home increases the workload of women. Keywords: Covid-19, pandemic, family, family relations.