Strategier vid hantering av stigmatiserande händelser: En analys av sex självbiografier

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to gain an increased understanding of how adult children describe stigmatizing experiences from their childhood. This is in terms of the strategies they employed to handle stigma, and how these strategies could be perceived from an adult’s point of view. The research questions: "How do the authors portray strategies from childhood for handling stigmatization about their parents/guardians with alcohol problems?”. As well as, “How do the authors depict their coping with their parents/guardians' alcohol problems in adulthood, as opposed to childhood?" The study employed a qualitative approach methodology based on six different autobiographies. The results of the study indicate that the authors developed various strategies to conceal their parents’ alcohol problems. All authors developed strategies based on the stigma they experienced in connection with their parents’s alcohol problem, which, according to Goffman’s stigma theory, can be explained using the concepts of shame, guilt, and role-taking. In conclusion, the study’s results align with previous research, while also contributing by illustrating how autobiographical books can further our understanding of how children cope with being raised by a parent with alcohol problems.