Abstract
This study describes the effects of rapid social change and the breakdown of traditional life and family support systems on Black rural widows of Zimbabwe. It examines women's perceptions of their lives before and after widowhood and identifies conditions which are related to changes in economic position, status, self-concept, life styles and social relationships. These changes have created an increasing number of socially and economically destitute elderly widows and contributed to the feminization of poverty. This has profound implications for social policy in developing countries with limited resources.
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This research was supported with a grant from the Kapnek Foundation and Sabbatical leave from the University of Vermont. The authors wish to thank Gordon Chavunduka, Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson, University of Zimbabwe and Rebecca Polland, Ph.D., Rutgers University for making this study possible and Stephen Culter, Ph.D., Professor, Bishop Joyce Chair of Gerontology, the University of Vermont for his helpful critique and suggestions.