Living in the shadow of shame and stigma: Lived experience of mothers with deaf children
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences (IJMRHS) - Year 2016, Vol 5, Issue 11
Abstract
Congenital deafness is one of the most common childhood disorders and every year many children are born with permanent hearing loss. The present study was carried out to understand the experience of mothers with deaf children. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach. The participants were 35 mothers of children with congenital deafness who were selected by purposive sampling. The data was collected through semi-structured indepth interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis introduced by Braun and Clarke. Data analysis revealed 3 themes and 9 sub-themes including social stigma (prying eyes, pity aversion, feeling of discrimination, taunt from people), internalized stigma (feeling of inferiority, feeling of shame and embarrassment), and reaction to stigma (turning to concealment, cautious disclosure, and marginalization). Shame and stigma were the major experiences of Iranian mothers of deaf children that shadowed their lives. These experiences lead mainly to ineffective coping mechanisms such as avoidance of using hearing aids and concealment of the child’s hearing loss. In addition, to cope with perceived stigma, mothers isolate and marginalize themselves and pursue secrecy strategies. Therefore, our findings are important for health professionals who are working with families having children with hearing loss. They need to aware of the problems faced by the families and should advocate necessary support.
Authors and Affiliations
Hossein Ebrahimi| PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, Eissa Mohammadi| PhD, Professor, Department of Nursing, School of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran, Mahmood Shamshiri| PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran, Katri VehviläinenJulkunen| Professor, Department of Nursing Science, Kuopio, Finland, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi| PhD candidate, Research Committee Member, Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran Corresponding Email: m.mohammadi@arums.ac.ir
Keywords
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