D Naziri1. 1. School of Psychological Sciences and Education, University of Liège, Belgium. dnaziri@hotmail.com
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the way men experience abortion from a psychodynamic perspective in order to understand better the impact of this experience on their own image as men and on the couple's relationship. METHODS: In-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 men in Belgium and 14 men in Greece. RESULTS: Intrapsychic factors seem to play for men an important role in their experience of abortion, whatever their cultural context and contraceptive practices. Two-thirds of the men who agreed to participate in the research disagreed with their partner's decision to have an abortion. Such men may feel that it is impossible for them to fulfill themselves, in particular as potential fathers. This impossibility is, according to men, linked to women's attitudes, but may also be related to their own difficult identification with parental images and to socio-professional concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Abortion can create tensions and/or conflicts between partners by revealing their contradictory desires. It is suggested that institutions where men and women are heard can help both partners to outlive this experience as a constructive step in their personal psychosocial evolution and in their relationship.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the way men experience abortion from a psychodynamic perspective in order to understand better the impact of this experience on their own image as men and on the couple's relationship. METHODS: In-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 men in Belgium and 14 men in Greece. RESULTS: Intrapsychic factors seem to play for men an important role in their experience of abortion, whatever their cultural context and contraceptive practices. Two-thirds of the men who agreed to participate in the research disagreed with their partner's decision to have an abortion. Such men may feel that it is impossible for them to fulfill themselves, in particular as potential fathers. This impossibility is, according to men, linked to women's attitudes, but may also be related to their own difficult identification with parental images and to socio-professional concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Abortion can create tensions and/or conflicts between partners by revealing their contradictory desires. It is suggested that institutions where men and women are heard can help both partners to outlive this experience as a constructive step in their personal psychosocial evolution and in their relationship.
Authors: Amy O Tsui; John Casterline; Susheela Singh; Akinrinola Bankole; Ann M Moore; Adekunbi Kehinde Omideyi; Nancy Palomino; Zeba Sathar; Fatima Juarez; Kristen M Shellenberg Journal: Glob Public Health Date: 2011-07-14