Meaning and potential of interview data in depiction of life stories: interviews of three mothers caring for children with severe disabilities

Abstract

[Purpose] This study aimed to review the meaning and potential of interview data for life story depiction. [Participants and Methods] The participants were three mothers who appeared to have positively accepted their daily lives while raising children with severe disabilities. Semi-structured interviews of these mothers were performed. By reference to Trajectory Equifinality Model, noteworthy experiences were extracted for individual cases from the complete records of the interviews. [Results] After the narration of their life stories, the mothers reached the following points: "Strange sense of satisfaction with living with this child," "Both the child and I are happy," and "The presence of this child allowed us to save our marriage." [Conclusion] When one talks about oneself, the past is arranged in a form that explains the present, omitting or ignoring past experiences that are not related to the present. In other words, the present condition is not the point that the mothers has reached through the narration of their life stories, but the life story has been created to explain the present condition. This means that the life story will continue to change with each new context. This is the conclusion of this study with regard to the meaning and potential of interview data.