The Unwed Teenage Mothers' Lived Experience of Hope in a Group Home: Using Parse's Research Methodology / 정신간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was to discover the structure of the unwed teenage mothers' lived experience of hope using Parse's research methodology. METHODS: Participants were 7 unwed teenage mothers in one group home. The data were collected by dialogical engagement and analyzed through extraction-synthesis and heuristic interpretation process. RESULTS: The unwed teenage mothers were very troubled over the thought of aborting their babies after they found themselves pregnant. They decided to go through with the birth and give their babies up for adoption as they recognized that a baby's life was precious. They felt the joy of love for the baby and the sorrow of separation at the same time. They spent much time uncomfortably concealing being pregnant but after they shared their pain and sorrow with significant others they became more stabile. Their desire to make a new life increased gradually and they tried to find their own way. They were proud of themselves for overcoming the pain of childbirth and decided to make a good life. CONCLUSION: Having compared the structure of the unwed teenage mothers' lived experience of hope with Parse's human becoming theory, five concepts were identified, such as valuing, connecting- separating, revealing-concealing, powering and transforming.