{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109612"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/109612","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Mothering experiences in the aftermath of armed conflict: A phenomenological study of Syrian refugee mothers in Jordan","abstract":"This qualitative phenomenological study explores the phenomenon of mothering in the aftermath of war and displacement among twenty-five Syrian refugee mothers living in exile in Jordan. Drawing on Van Manen’s (1997b) hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it asks: What is it like to parent in the aftermath of war and displacement? Through semi-structured interviews, study participants describe their everyday lived experiences, situations, and relationships. Their narratives are analyzed using a selective reading approach to isolate phrases or statements that are especially revealing. The thematic analysis was guided by the four life existentials: a sense of space, body, time, and self (Van Manen, 1997b). Among the twelve themes identified to explain the changes mothers experienced are: external circumstances and survival struggles pushed these mothers out of their familiar space, the private space of the home, and into the public space where they engaged in income-earning and help-seeking activities. As they gained the ability to move more freely than in their previous life in Syria, mothers challenged old patriarchal norms in which male family members restricted their movement. Participants’ lived experience of their bodies meant they coped with physical pain by taking pills rather than treating the original health problem. Married and fertile women gave birth in Jordan, which provided them with a sense of normality. Mothers felt stronger, warmer, and closer to their children, but also poor, helpless, and vulnerable. Mothers experienced ‘present time’ as the dominant time sphere and faced many challenges to survive on a daily basis. At the same time, they did not lose future perspective and held hopes and fears regarding their children’s futures. These findings both reveal the multifaceted nature and complexity of the phenomenon of mothering in the context of war and displacement and also stress the need to view mothering in a holistic manner rather than focusing on single aspects such as resiliency and coping strategies, or psychopathology and mental health conditions. Based on this holistic view, recommendations for practice, research and policy are made and discussed.","abstract_html":"This qualitative phenomenological study explores the phenomenon of mothering in the aftermath of war and displacement among twenty-five Syrian refugee mothers living in exile in Jordan. Drawing on Van Manen’s (1997b) hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it asks: What is it like to parent in the aftermath of war and displacement? Through semi-structured interviews, study participants describe their everyday lived experiences, situations, and relationships. Their narratives are analyzed using a selective reading approach to isolate phrases or statements that are especially revealing. The thematic analysis was guided by the four life existentials: a sense of space, body, time, and self (Van Manen, 1997b). Among the twelve themes identified to explain the changes mothers experienced are: external circumstances and survival struggles pushed these mothers out of their familiar space, the private space of the home, and into the public space where they engaged in income-earning and help-seeking activities. As they gained the ability to move more freely than in their previous life in Syria, mothers challenged old patriarchal norms in which male family members restricted their movement. Participants’ lived experience of their bodies meant they coped with physical pain by taking pills rather than treating the original health problem. Married and fertile women gave birth in Jordan, which provided them with a sense of normality. Mothers felt stronger, warmer, and closer to their children, but also poor, helpless, and vulnerable. Mothers experienced ‘present time’ as the dominant time sphere and faced many challenges to survive on a daily basis. At the same time, they did not lose future perspective and held hopes and fears regarding their children’s futures. These findings both reveal the multifaceted nature and complexity of the phenomenon of mothering in the context of war and displacement and also stress the need to view mothering in a holistic manner rather than focusing on single aspects such as resiliency and coping strategies, or psychopathology and mental health conditions. Based on this holistic view, recommendations for practice, research and policy are made and discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Qushua, Najat"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Social Work","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ostler, Teresa","Zhan, Min","Powell, Tara","Korr, Wynne","Sensoy Bahar, Ozge"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-03-05T21:45:40Z","date_published":"2021-03-05T21:45:40Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:50Z","subjects":["Syrian refugees, mothering, phenomenology, hermeneutics, displacement"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2020 Najat Qushua"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109612","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ostler, Teresa","Zhan, Min","Powell, Tara","Korr, Wynne","Sensoy Bahar, Ozge"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Qushua, Najat"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-03-05T21:45:40Z","2023-03-05T21:47:41Z","2020-12-01","2020-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Social Work"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Syrian refugees, mothering, phenomenology, hermeneutics, displacement"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2020 Najat Qushua"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109612"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This qualitative phenomenological study explores the phenomenon of mothering in the aftermath of war and displacement among twenty-five Syrian refugee mothers living in exile in Jordan. Drawing on Van Manen’s (1997b) hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it asks: What is it like to parent in the aftermath of war and displacement? Through semi-structured interviews, study participants describe their everyday lived experiences, situations, and relationships. Their narratives are analyzed using a selective reading approach to isolate phrases or statements that are especially revealing. The thematic analysis was guided by the four life existentials: a sense of space, body, time, and self (Van Manen, 1997b). Among the twelve themes identified to explain the changes mothers experienced are: external circumstances and survival struggles pushed these mothers out of their familiar space, the private space of the home, and into the public space where they engaged in income-earning and help-seeking activities. As they gained the ability to move more freely than in their previous life in Syria, mothers challenged old patriarchal norms in which male family members restricted their movement. Participants’ lived experience of their bodies meant they coped with physical pain by taking pills rather than treating the original health problem. Married and fertile women gave birth in Jordan, which provided them with a sense of normality. Mothers felt stronger, warmer, and closer to their children, but also poor, helpless, and vulnerable. Mothers experienced ‘present time’ as the dominant time sphere and faced many challenges to survive on a daily basis. At the same time, they did not lose future perspective and held hopes and fears regarding their children’s futures. These findings both reveal the multifaceted nature and complexity of the phenomenon of mothering in the context of war and displacement and also stress the need to view mothering in a holistic manner rather than focusing on single aspects such as resiliency and coping strategies, or psychopathology and mental health conditions. Based on this holistic view, recommendations for practice, research and policy are made and discussed.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2022-12-01","The student, Najat Qushua, accepted the attached license on 2020-11-30 at 16:14.","The student, Najat Qushua, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-11-30 at 16:29.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-12-01 at 17:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15998 on 2021-03-04 at 16:32:45","Made available in DSpace on 2021-03-05T21:45:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 QUSHUA-DISSERTATION-2020.pdf: 2313287 bytes, checksum: c4a3702d72c5897c4d933105e28cb21a (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4209 bytes, checksum: e97a01cb06a2b4a217d7791099ad8380 (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4555 bytes, checksum: 357b077953e916a8d68208dc33681dcb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020-12-01","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117317 Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:45:47Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117317 Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:47:41Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mothering experiences in the aftermath of armed conflict: A phenomenological study of Syrian refugee mothers in Jordan"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ostler, Teresa","Zhan, Min","Powell, Tara","Korr, Wynne","Sensoy Bahar, Ozge"],"dc:creator":["Qushua, Najat"],"dc:date":["2021-03-05T21:45:40Z","2023-03-05T21:47:41Z","2020-12-01","2020-12"],"dc:description":["This qualitative phenomenological study explores the phenomenon of mothering in the aftermath of war and displacement among twenty-five Syrian refugee mothers living in exile in Jordan. Drawing on Van Manen’s (1997b) hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it asks: What is it like to parent in the aftermath of war and displacement? Through semi-structured interviews, study participants describe their everyday lived experiences, situations, and relationships. Their narratives are analyzed using a selective reading approach to isolate phrases or statements that are especially revealing. The thematic analysis was guided by the four life existentials: a sense of space, body, time, and self (Van Manen, 1997b). Among the twelve themes identified to explain the changes mothers experienced are: external circumstances and survival struggles pushed these mothers out of their familiar space, the private space of the home, and into the public space where they engaged in income-earning and help-seeking activities. As they gained the ability to move more freely than in their previous life in Syria, mothers challenged old patriarchal norms in which male family members restricted their movement. Participants’ lived experience of their bodies meant they coped with physical pain by taking pills rather than treating the original health problem. Married and fertile women gave birth in Jordan, which provided them with a sense of normality. Mothers felt stronger, warmer, and closer to their children, but also poor, helpless, and vulnerable. Mothers experienced ‘present time’ as the dominant time sphere and faced many challenges to survive on a daily basis. At the same time, they did not lose future perspective and held hopes and fears regarding their children’s futures. These findings both reveal the multifaceted nature and complexity of the phenomenon of mothering in the context of war and displacement and also stress the need to view mothering in a holistic manner rather than focusing on single aspects such as resiliency and coping strategies, or psychopathology and mental health conditions. Based on this holistic view, recommendations for practice, research and policy are made and discussed.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2022-12-01","The student, Najat Qushua, accepted the attached license on 2020-11-30 at 16:14.","The student, Najat Qushua, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2020-11-30 at 16:29.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2020-12-01 at 17:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #15998 on 2021-03-04 at 16:32:45","Made available in DSpace on 2021-03-05T21:45:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 QUSHUA-DISSERTATION-2020.pdf: 2313287 bytes, checksum: c4a3702d72c5897c4d933105e28cb21a (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4209 bytes, checksum: e97a01cb06a2b4a217d7791099ad8380 (MD5) PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt: 4555 bytes, checksum: 357b077953e916a8d68208dc33681dcb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2020-12-01","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117317 Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:45:47Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 117317 Lift date: 2023-03-05T21:47:41Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109612"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2020 Najat Qushua"],"dc:subject":["Syrian refugees, mothering, phenomenology, hermeneutics, displacement"],"dc:title":["Mothering experiences in the aftermath of armed conflict: A phenomenological study of Syrian refugee mothers in Jordan"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Social Work"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:50Z"}