Australian War Widows: A case study to challenge public policy

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Author(s)
Cooke, M
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2003
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This paper explores public policy in relation to war widows. The effects of public policy are rarely analysed from an individual’s perspective. The paper draws on interview data to analyse the case study of a 51 year old Vietnam War widow and compares this to the experiences of six other war widows. Findings are part of a larger study on widowhood. Life histories were gained through unstructured interviews and then constructed as case studies that enabled an analysis of the relationship between the individual lived experience of the women and broader social forces that influence this. The findings suggest that women may feel ...
View more >This paper explores public policy in relation to war widows. The effects of public policy are rarely analysed from an individual’s perspective. The paper draws on interview data to analyse the case study of a 51 year old Vietnam War widow and compares this to the experiences of six other war widows. Findings are part of a larger study on widowhood. Life histories were gained through unstructured interviews and then constructed as case studies that enabled an analysis of the relationship between the individual lived experience of the women and broader social forces that influence this. The findings suggest that women may feel differently about being categorised as ‘war widows’ in public policy and the reasons for this are varied. The paper suggests that an extension of this study be conducted to more fully explore the reasons for the differences in war widows to inform future policy review/revision.
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View more >This paper explores public policy in relation to war widows. The effects of public policy are rarely analysed from an individual’s perspective. The paper draws on interview data to analyse the case study of a 51 year old Vietnam War widow and compares this to the experiences of six other war widows. Findings are part of a larger study on widowhood. Life histories were gained through unstructured interviews and then constructed as case studies that enabled an analysis of the relationship between the individual lived experience of the women and broader social forces that influence this. The findings suggest that women may feel differently about being categorised as ‘war widows’ in public policy and the reasons for this are varied. The paper suggests that an extension of this study be conducted to more fully explore the reasons for the differences in war widows to inform future policy review/revision.
View less >
Journal Title
Australian Journal of Social Issues
Volume
38
Issue
4
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2003 ACOSS. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
Subject
Human society