The lived experience of women in war-affected families; A reflection on the role of a wife in a veteran's family

Lack of methodological studies in the field of families of injured vetrans led the present study to answer the following main question: What are the challenges of veterans' spouses in playing family roles and what categories are mainly organized around? Methodologically the research is qualitative and based on a phenomenological approach, and researcher has tried to gain an understanding of the specific challenges of daily life with a veteran through semi-structured interviews with 30 veterans' spouses.The centralized categories are the burden of the role resulting from the simultaneous performance of the role of nurse, spouse, extended motherhood, the economic dissatisfaction that occurs due to disruption of the role of male breadwinner and is exacerbated by the experience of poverty or financial misunderstanding. Incomplete marriage that occurs due to sexual dissatisfaction, unresolved marital conflict, and persistent domestic violence anxiety.These categories lead us to the main theme of the experience of veterans' wives, which is depression of the role. Spouses as social actors overcome discouragement of the role by changing expectations and redefining the role, or abandon the role of veteran spouse and choose separation.