Old Women and Widowhood: A Dying Status Passage

Abstract

Widowhood for old women involves an orientation to an awareness that life is now limited and the timing of death, while uncertain, is now inevitable. In this context, old widowhood can be likened to a dying status passage. Removing the focus of widowhood for old women from a preoccupation with bereavement, to a concern for the social implications of the extended years of widowed life, is central to this discussion. Placing widowhood within the domain of the dying career is intended to increase understanding of the lived experience of widowhood for old women, and to achieve a more satisfying resolution to old age, dying, and death.