Unbroken Homes: Single-Parent Mothers Tell Their Stories

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
	Why Do We Need This Book?
	The Rest of the Story
	Labeling and Deviance
	Defining Family
	The Importance of Theories and Interpretive Frameworks
	A Different Side of the Story
	Investigating the Lived Experiences of Single Mothers
	Methodology
	Presentation of the Book
	What Can Be Learned from Only Five Women?
Chapter 1. What Is Family? Mothering, Fathering, and Being Single
	Defining Family
	Male Instrumentalists and Female Expressives: Gender Roles Defined
	Parenting: Sainted Mothers and Disappearing Fathers
	Divorce: A Battleground for Gender Wars
	Single Women: Apart and Together
	Conclusion
Squares of the Quilt: Single Mothers Through Their Own Eyes
	The Story Quilt
	The Interviews
	The Women
Chapter 2. Judith: \"Getting My Life Back\"
	Parents and Parenting
	Sensitivity to Stereotyping
	Facing Aloneness and Finding Strength
	The Question of Quality Time
	Beyond the Divorce: Parenting Changes
	Divorce As Liberation
	Emotional Codependency with Her Son
	Completing the Journey
Chapter 3. Kathleen: \"I Want to Do Everything Right\"
	The Divorce Experience
	Providing Every Opportunity
	Reflections on Divorce
	Multiple Roles and Role Conflicts
	Teaching Values
	Learning About New Relationships: Her Significant Other
	Conclusion
Chapter 4. Shawna: \"Stand Your Ground\"
	Power and Control: A Question of Property
	From the Other Side: The Child of a \"Bad\" Marriage
	Having a Baby, Not a Wedding
	Parenting Tasha
	The Good Aunt: Parenting a Teenage Mother\'s Troubled Daughter
	Breaking Out and Breaking Down
Chapter 5. Lyn: \"Just Get On with It\"
	Three Generations of Single Moms
	Lyn\'s Divorce: Getting On with It
	Child Rearing: Encouraging Independence
	Myself Alone
	Coping with Depression
	Old and New Myths
	Retirement: No Place for Women
	Conclusion
Chapter 6. Sarah: \"Reparenting the Child in Me\"
	The Characters
	The Settings
	Living in a Dysfunctional Marriage
	A History of Abuse
	Sarah: Reparenting Herself
	Sarah\'s Daughters: Adolescent Storms
	Family: When It Works
	School and the Single Parent
	The Final Act: Picking Up the Pieces
	Conclusion: A Disaster and an Irish Blessing
Chapter 7. Viewing the Quilt: Patterns and Themes
	Introduction
	Families and Parenting
	Gender Wars Revisited
	Women\'s Development: Journeys Through Self and Relationship
	The Children of Divorce: Before and After
	Conclusions and Recommendations
References
Index