Penguatan Makna Resiliensi Keluarga bagi Istri Bekerja di Kota Palu Upaya Meningkatkan Ketahanan Keluarga

Abstract

The increasing participation of women in the workforce has created complex family dynamics, particularly for working wives who simultaneously perform the roles of employee, wife, and mother. This study aimed to explore and understand the meaning of family resilience among working wives in Palu City through their lived experiences of managing multiple roles. A qualitative approach with an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) design was employed. Three working wives who were civil servants in Palu City were purposively selected. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and field notes and analyzed idiographically and across cases using IPA procedures. The findings indicate that family resilience is understood as a dynamic process of maintaining togetherness, harmony, and family functioning through role adjustment, mutual support, and positive meaning-making of difficulties. Within the belief system dimension, religiosity, prayer, gratitude, faith in God, patience, honesty, mutual understanding, and positive thinking served as sources of strength. Within organizational patterns, resilience was reflected in husband-wife role sharing, children's involvement, flexible routines, and the use of family support. Within communication processes, resilience was built through openness, expression of opinions, deliberation, shared decision-making, and restoration of relationships after conflict. These findings suggest that family resilience among working wives is not merely an individual psychological capacity, but is constructed through family relationships, religious values, social support, and the socio-cultural context of Palu City.