The Implications of Sex Role Ideology for Divorced Women: A Study

This dissertation delves into the complex interplay between sex role ideology and the experiences of divorced women, particularly within the context of social work. It investigates how societal shifts in gender expectations impact divorced women, examining the challenges they face in navigating their new roles and maintaining their individuality. The research explores the historical background of sex role ideology, tracing its evolution and influence on societal perceptions. The study employs a qualitative analysis of secondary data, including books, journals, and articles, to understand the experiences of divorced women, especially within the Asian community in the United Kingdom. The role of social workers in supporting these women is analyzed, focusing on interventions and strategies to promote their well-being. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for improving the societal position of divorced women and suggests areas for future research, emphasizing the importance of social workers and community support in fostering their resilience and integration.

Running head: DISSERTATION
The Implications of sex role ideology on the experiences of divorced women; A social work
perspective
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ……………………. whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the…………… [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The human society consist of two main genders that is the male gender and the female gender.
Throughout the development of human history, as the society has grown and progressed through
time, the roles played by the two genders in the society has also developed in different ways.
Soon, the male gender was seen to be the stronger of the two and they were deemed to be
capable to work in the public sphere. On the other hand, their female counterpart was seen to be
the weaker of the two genders. Although they were considered to be more responsible than the
males in respect of maintaining the ethics and customs of the society, they were denied a position
in the public sphere. They were required to be confined within the private sphere only within
their own homes and community. People did not question such a mindset even if they found it to
be inconvenient in nature. Moreover, even if certain women advocated against this, they were
condemned by the society, often by the other women of the society itself. However, with the turn
of the century, a new perspective soon emerged. The women started to make a place for
themselves in the society. The research aims to understand the implications of the changes in the
sex roles ideology that a divorced women has to undergo and how the social workers and the
other members of the society help such women to maintain their individuality and integrity. In
this regard, the research tries to understand the method which is employed in the making of the
research. In this manner, it is seen that there is qualitative analysis of the data which is collected
from the secondary resources which includes books, journals, articles and newspaper articles.
This information is linked and related to the research objective and a comprehensive picture is
developed. The research also provides certain recommendations on how the position of the
divorced women in the society can be improved with the help of the social workers and the other
members of the society.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................4
1.0 Overview................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Research Aim.........................................................................................................................5
1.2 Research Structure.................................................................................................................5
1.4 Summary................................................................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Research Methodology..................................................................................................8
2.0 Overview................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Research Outline....................................................................................................................8
2.2 Research Philosophy..............................................................................................................8
2.2.1 Justification of research philosophy...............................................................................9
2.3 Research Approach................................................................................................................9
2.3.1 Justification of research approach..................................................................................9
2.4 Research Design..................................................................................................................10
2.4.1 Justification for research design...................................................................................10
2.5 Research Strategy................................................................................................................11
2.5.1 Justification of research strategy..................................................................................11
2.6 Data collection process........................................................................................................12
2.6.1 Justification of data collection process.........................................................................12
2.7 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................12

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2.7.1 Justification of data analysis technique........................................................................13
2.8 Ethical Issues.......................................................................................................................13
2.9 Accessibility Issues..............................................................................................................13
2.10 Summary............................................................................................................................14
Chapter 3: Historical Background.................................................................................................15
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................15
3.1 Theme 1: Sex role ideology as existed in the society before marriage...............................15
3.2 Theme 2: Sex role ideology as existed in the society during marriage...............................17
3.3 Theme 3: Sex role ideology as existed in the society after divorce.....................................20
3.4 Summary..............................................................................................................................23
Chapter 4: Core Understanding of the Research Study.................................................................24
4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................24
4.1 Theme 1: Nature of the existence of divorce among the Asian women living in the United
Kingdom....................................................................................................................................24
4.2 Theme 2: The activity of the social workers in the context of the divorced women...........27
4.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................30
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation...............................................................................32
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................32
5.1 Recommendation.................................................................................................................33
5.2 Future Scope of Study.........................................................................................................35

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References:....................................................................................................................................36

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
The human society consist of two main genders that is the male gender and the female
gender. Throughout the development of human history, as the society has grown and progressed
through time, the roles played by the two genders in the society has also developed in different
ways (Somech and Drach‐Zahavy 2016). Soon, the male gender was seen to be the stronger of
the two and they were deemed to be capable to work in the public sphere. On the other hand,
their female counterpart was seen to be the weaker of the two genders. Although they were
considered to be more responsible than the males in respect of maintaining the ethics and
customs of the society, they were denied a position in the public sphere (Levant and Richmond
2016). They were required to be confined within the private sphere only within their own homes
and community. In this manner, the two notions of the genders developed and imbibed itself
within the human civilization (Rajadhyaksha, Korabik and Aycan 2015). People did not question
such a mindset even if they found it to be inconvenient in nature. Moreover, even if certain
women advocated against this, they were condemned by the society, often by the other women of
the society itself. However, with the turn of the century, a new perspective soon emerged. The
women started to make a place for themselves in the society.
The end of the two world wars brought about many major changes in the human
civilization, one among them being the women protesting for their own political right (Bryman
2017). Although such protests were in existence since the era of the French Revolution, it never
gained so much of magnitude. The administration of political rights on the women further
emboldened the women to start agitating for more rights and freedom for themselves (van der
Vleuten et al. 2016). However, in this respect, one major characteristic feature which still

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remained embedded in the human society is the mindset and the opinion held by the people.
People, especially the male gender, still considers the women to the weaker of the two. As a
result, this poses a considerable problem for the divorced women (Somech and Drach‐Zahavy
2016). Divorced women are required to stay without a husband in a society which is highly
prejudiced against them. Such women are required to assume a more ‘masculine’ role for
themselves so that they may survive within the broader society. In this manner, such differences
in the sex roles played by the divorced women has a considerable implication not only on the
concerned individuals but also on the structuring of the society.
This, in turn, becomes one of the concerning field of analysis for the social workers who
are required to ensure the maintenance of peace and harmony in the society. In this regard, the
aid and support of the immediate families of the concerned women, the community they belong
to, their own society, all of them assume an important and significant role to play (Somech and
Drach‐Zahavy 2016). Thus, it depends upon the human society to change themselves in order to
reduce the implications of the assumed ‘masculine’ role of the divorced women to support
themselves. They should be allowed to maintain their individuality as well as their dignity.
1.1 Research Aim
The research aims to understand the implications of the changes in the sex roles ideology
that a divorced women has to undergo and how the social workers and the other members of the
society help such women to maintain their individuality and integrity.
1.2 Research Structure
Section one of the research provides a broad overview about the aim and purpose of the
research. It states the main problem area of the research which is to understand and analyze the

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implications of the changes in the sex roles ideology that a divorced women has to undergo and
how the social workers and the other members of the society help such women to maintain their
individuality and integrity. Furthermore, it also provides a brief rationale for the study.
Section two of the research tries to understand the method which is employed in the
making of the research. In this manner, it is seen that there is qualitative analysis of the data
which is collected from the secondary resources which includes books, journals, articles and
newspaper artless.
Section three looks in to the various sources of literature which tries to understand the
historical back ground of the research study under investigation. In this respect, this chapter
looks at the evolution of the idea of sex roles and how they were differentiated from the
biological gender roles due to the contributions of the feminists. The work of certain notable
feminists have been discussed in this section to provide support to the findings.
Section four attempts to understand the core issue of the research study that is to
understand the implications of the changes in the sex roles ideology that a divorced women has
to undergo and how the social workers and the other members of the society help such women to
maintain their individuality and integrity.
Section five provides a concluding chapter of this research study which synthesizes all
the information which have been gathered and analyzed so far. This information is linked and
related to the research objective and a comprehensive picture is developed. This section also
provides certain recommendations on how the position of the divorced women in the society can
be improved with the help of the social workers and the other members of the society.

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1.4 Summary
To summarize this chapter tries to understand the main aim and purpose of the research.
The research aims to understand the implications of the changes in the sex roles ideology that a
divorced women has to undergo and how the social workers and the other members of the
society help such women to maintain their individuality and integrity. In this respect, this chapter
provides a systematic frame work on how the research develops in the following sections.

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Chapter 2: Research Methodology
2.0 Overview
This chapter aims to understand the various methodological instruments and mechanisms
that have been employed in the making of this research study. The research aims to understand
the implications of the changes in the sex roles ideology that a divorced women has to undergo
and how the social workers and the other members of the society help such women to maintain
their individuality and integrity. For this purpose, a systematic understanding of the different
themes related to the study under investigation is necessary for the effective execution of the
research study.
2.1 Research Outline
The research tries to follow the positivism research philosophy, the deductive research
approach, descriptive research design while undertaking the study (Morse 2015). Moreover, the
research utilizes the secondary sources of data in order to find information and this data is
analysed with the aid of qualitative research analysis technique. It enables the researcher to gain
a subjective view of the research study under investigation. In other words, the sex role ideology
of the divorced Asian women and the various changes they have to undergo in order to sustain
themselves within the frame work of the United Kingdom has been analysed in a detailed
manner in this research study (Braun et al. 2019).
2.2 Research Philosophy
The research area consist of three different types of research philosophy such as
interpretivism, pragmatism and positivism. Under interpretivism research philosophy, the
researcher needs to understand the various differences that exist among the human beings while

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they live and work within the frame work of the human society (Creswell and Poth 2017).
Positivism research philosophy on the other hand, seeks to understand the research study under
investigation in a statistical manner. There is use of logic and rationality in order to reach the
conclusion (Nassaji 2015). Pragmatism research philosophy is quite complicated and hence, it is
hardly used in the making of any research.
2.2.1 Justification of research philosophy
In the making of this research study, the positivism research philosophy has been utilized.
This follows from the fact that there is a need to understand in a systematic manner the changes
in the sex role ideology among the divorced Asian women living within the frame work in the
United Kingdom. As a result of this, there is use of certain statistical data which needs to be
interpreted in a logical and rational manner. As a consequence, the use of positivism research
philosophy has been deemed to be essential in the effective execution of this research study
(Mayer 2015).
2.3 Research Approach
The two different types of research approach that are utilized in the making of any
research work are those of deductive research approach and inductive research approach.
Deductive research approach refers to the situation where there is a pre-existing hypothesis
statement that is attempted to be proven by the researcher with the aid of certain existing
concepts and theories (McCusker and Gunaydin 2015). However, inductive research approach
refers to the situation where there is no pre-existing hypothetical statement in the research. The
researcher creates new theories and concepts in order to prove his or her work.