| Through the use of ethnographic methods and discourse analysis, this study explores the interaction and discursive practices within a singles' organization from the perspective of persons who are 40 years of age and older and have been divorced for more than three years. The purpose of the study was to see how these people addressed their identity, their single status, and their emotions in the context of participating in an organization for professional single persons which is located in an urban area within the Northeastern United States.;The thesis of this dissertation is that from the perspective of this particular group of individuals and the organization, singleness is a transitional status. By viewing singleness as a transitional status, divorced persons managed the stigma of terminal singlehood which is threatening insofar as it represents the failure to establish a relationship that is better or more successful than the prior marriage. However, by actively trying to change one's status, individuals could embroil themselves in a vicious cycle of hope and disappointment, thereby increasing their sense of stigmatization.;This research demonstrates that the stigmatization process can occur among persons who do not see themselves as stigmatized by their membership in a social category. Furthermore, stigmatization appears to be more situated than a status. Being in situations which elicited negative feelings caused persons to feel stigmatized. Finally, viewing oneself as the source of the stigma is potentially double-binding insofar as one can be stigmatized by feeling stigmatized.;Persons looked to the organization as a source of support. Interaction with persons who would be considered weak ties was found to be a valuable source of support. Support was communicated indirectly and in a way which maintained a positive image of the group as a whole and did not challenge the identity claims of persons in the group. |
