“Remarried military widows” grief in light of social policy upheavals

Abstract

Military widows’ remarriages and their consequences have scarcely been studied. We examined how legal changes enacted on behalf of remarried war widows, who regained their official rights after many years without them, impacted their life experience. Based upon 29 qualitative interviews, we found that the reinstatement of official recognition of widowhood validated participants’ personal longitudinal grief but also revived painful loss-related feelings, which were expressed in interpersonal spheres. Policy changes allowed some widows a higher measure of independence, alongside upsetting the current couple’s power balance. Social and clinical implications of such interruptions in the longitudinal grief course are discussed.