The influence of socio-economic status and education in grief experienced and coping strategies employed among widows

Abstract

Widowhood is generally associated with trauma, grief and pains yet women undergone more humiliating experiences than their male counterparts. Widows are subjected to discrimination, stigma, lack of rights and systematic violence. This study investigated the influence of education and socio- economic status in the grief experienced and coping strategies employed by widows. Two hundred samples were randomly selected from four local governments in Lagos state. Widows Status Inventory (W.I.S) was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was validated and a reliability co-efficient of 0.70 was obtained. The data obtained were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. The results obtained showed significant differences in the grief experienced by widows on the basis of education and socio – economic status .Based on the findings of this study it was recommended that the girl- child should be empowered educationally and economically.