NEGOTIATING STRATEGIES BETWEEN THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES UNDER EXPERIENCES WITH THE HUSBAND

Abstract

The objectives of this academic paper were: 1) to study the experience of mothers with children with disabilities and 2) to analyze strategies for negotiating with the social structure of mothers with children with disabilities under husband-related experiences by choosing a narrative approach under constructivism in the context of daily life by using conversation to tell stories to collect narratives. The data were analyzed by using analytical methods to create a story. The research results shown that the experience of the husband of a mother with a child with disabilities can be divided into two platforms of experiences: type1, the experience of the husband before having the child with disabilities; type 2, the experience of the husband after having the child with disabilities. For the strategies for negotiating with the social structure of mothers with children with disabilities under the experiences with husband were (1) 2 strategies with husbands consisting of using diligently to suppress negative behavior of the husband and forcing the husband to quit work to raise disabled children; (2) strategy with husband's relatives; (3) strategy with surrounding people. It was also discovered that there is no situation that mothers cannot negotiate with the social structure that regardless of what kind of husband-related experiences mothers challenges. Mothers are always able to manipulate and negotiate social structures even if the negotiation was not supported by husband, husband relatives and surrounding people. To obtain these, mothers need to use resource mobility strategies for acquiring the quality of life of children with disabilities under the present environment.