Child Custody Challenges for Divorced Mothers: A Phenomenological Study

The divorce is a public health issue in the family and society; that has irreparable damage to family members, especially children. One of the prominent issues in divorce is child custody. Due to the pivotal role of emotions and feeling in women, in the present study, the attention is devoted to the psychological challenges of divorcing women over acquiring the rights of custody of the child.

The method of research was a qualitative based on descriptive phenomenological approach.   For collecting data used the semi-structured interview. Seventeen participants were referring to counseling services for acquiring the right of custody of their children in the City of Islam-shahr, the Tehran province by 2018. The data analysis method was based on a seven-step Colaizzi’s method.  

The results of the study indicated that, the psychological of these women divided into four main categories: negative and disturbance feeling, social isolation and stigma, Economical and Pressure and charge cost and finally concerns about the future of their child.

According to the results, it was conclude that; the most prominent psychological challenges of divorcing women might be categorize as two main concerns including; economic, financial issues and socio-cultural issues such as stigma of divorce. On the other hand, the emotional and psychological problems that these women facing after divorce. It seems that the psycho-educational interventions besides the social and financial advocacy and support are emerging.