Yi-Fang Chang
Department of Social Work, Shih Chien University
The purpose of this research was to study the life experiences of a single mother with four children through a narrative analysis of six hours of in-depth interviews. The results are divided into two parts: The first part uses object relations theory to analyze how the individual shaped herself from her childhood experiences, interpreting how her observations and experiences of intimate relationships created conflict because of a split between the subject and object, which resulted in further incongruence and conflict. The second part focuses on the individual’s processes of becoming and being a mother, in which she reinterprets her past experiences and tries to find a way to reintegrate herself. The researcher argues that the the object’s extrinsic behavior can be resolved not only through perceived and ostensible problems, but also by understanding the processes that involve intrinsic motivation. Both can assist an individual to better understand the state of his or her life course.
Keywords: object relations theory, unmarried woman