No more the same: the lives of adolescents in Taiwan who have lost fathers

Fam Community Health. 2002 Apr;25(1):43-56. doi: 10.1097/00003727-200204000-00008.

Abstract

This article offers a reconstruction of the life worlds of 30 adolescents, aged 9 to 18, from 20 families who have lost their fathers through death. Through interviews designed to measure the impact of culture on adolescent coping, six themes on rebuilding their lives, "no more the same," were identified: (1) isolation from death, (2) incompleteness, (3) staying inside, (4) worrying with mother, (5) building connections with fathers, and (6) restructuring the family. By exploring the lives of fatherless adolescents in Taiwan, the findings of this study illustrate a metaphor "no more the same" to represent life after father's death in such culture.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anecdotes as Topic
  • Attitude to Death*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Identification, Psychological*
  • Male
  • Paternal Deprivation*
  • Personality Assessment
  • Personality Development
  • Psychology, Adolescent
  • Social Adjustment
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Taiwan