State ideology and the status of Iranian war widows

Imbedded in widowhood are emotional loss and change in personal life. For women, depending on social constructions of gender relations, widowhood can also lead to identity change, role adjustment and change in social status. Socio-economic and emotional supports rendered by family, community and society at large can highly impact widows in coping with change and making adjustments. These changes and the corresponding societal supports find new dimensions for ‘war widows’. The political nature of their widowhood may provide them with some benefits not enjoyed by non-war widows. As a token of public gratitude, political regimes compensate war widows and their children for their losses. Some political regimes weave political ideology into their compensatory programs, and through these programs they simultaneously raise widows' self-sufficiency and control their lives and thoughts. The specific case of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be examined here.