Single Parenting Issues Faces by Widows: A Qualitative Study on Pastoral Care and Counselling

This book gives a handy copy to people who are researching and counseling on the issues faced by widows, which in turn affect their parenting. It is meant to provide findings on the identities of eight areas of issues faced by widows in parenting; such as the financial, physical, spiritual, educational, social, personality formation, character formation and patriarchal. The scholarly work also examines, the role of the Church toward widows, coping skills practices by widows and counseling needs and care for widows. This includes pastoral care for the widows such as maintaining relationship, caring network, awareness program, support groups and different counselling approach.

N. Majithuibou has completed Bachelor of Divinity (2013) from Eastern Theological College (ETC), Jorhat, Assam; Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling- DCPC (2016) from Thomas Mar Athanasius Institute of Counselling (TMAIC), Kottayam, Kerala; and Master of Theology-M.Th (2018) from Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture (FFRRC), Kottayam, Kerala.

He has served as Chaplain in Liangmai Christian Fellowship, Guwahati (2013-2015). Currently he is serving as Associate Pastor in Liangmai Christian Fellowship, Delhi (2018-till date) and pursuing Ph.D in Clinical pastoral Counselling at Asia Graduate School of Theology (AGST), Philippines.

The loss of a spouse is a life challenging and changing event in a women's life. Widowhood refers to a stressful negative life event in women's life and commonly viewed life in transition. After the death of her spouse, she suddenly adjusts from a marital status to widowhood. She has to adjust her physical, social, psychological, financial and emotional life even with the family, and face lots of parenting issues without the spouse. It is therefore important to identify the single parenting issues faced by widows and the different approaches of counselling so that the family, society and the churches can understand the widows and their parenting issues and provide every possible support. This chapter highlights the rationale for the research work.

The researcher explores and analyses the single parenting issues faced by widows of Liangmai Naga Baptist Association Manipur (LNBA-M). Hence, the research problem for the research work is entitled as "Single Parenting Issues faced by Widows: A Qualitative Study."

The premature death of spouse has become common and rising at an alarming rate in spite of advancement in medical facilities and decent economic background of the family. Today, there is also a significant increase in separation of married couples due to different reasons, which have given rise to single parenting. Now, the role and responsibility of both husband and wife in nurturing and moulding of children has to be carried out only by single parent (widow). The main reason was due to death of spouse (husband).

However, all these happen all of a sudden and upset the whole family. The family is shattered and broken, which cause crisis with unimaginable and inexplicable pain. The issues are not at all easy to face and handle by single parent alone but it becomes complicated and perplexing to go on with normal family life. The reasons is that the roles and responsibilities of nurturing the children, earning for the family, the family's role in society and church, the wholeness of life such as physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual life activities becomes totally disturbed and altered from the normal life cycle.

**Contents and Sample Pages**