| Summary: | The study explores the importance of place attachment for women’s sense of security during pregnancy. Coping strategies of pregnant women are analysed, focusing on how the prospectof giving birth affects their relationship to place. Anthony Giddens’ concept of ontologicalsecurity is critically examined and used to investigate the connection between place andontological security – what I call place security –through a set of empirical data drawn fromin-depth interviews with pregnant women. Two studies were carried out, one in Swedenand the other in northern Norway. A qualitative analysis was made of the interview material,using the three basic elements of ontological security, self-identity, continuity andritualisation, as a grid of analysis. Earlier psychological research indicates that the prospectof giving birth and raising a family brings the issue of ontological security to the surface.The data confirms such findings, demonstrating the particular importance of place. Duringpregnancy, the women came to consider issues of identity related to their own childhoodexperience. A sense of security connected to place was essential for their well-being in thisvulnerable period of transition, and places procuring this security were consciously sought toalleviate anxiety. Both women who had previously lived very mobile lives and those whohad been more sedentary exhibit the need for place security. A typical coping strategy was toreturn to childhood places. In other cases, the women tried to achieve place security for theirchildren by recreating an environment similar to the place their own sense of identity wasrooted in. Social institutions, such as schools, day-care facilities and jobs, largely determinein which places a sense of security can be achieved from a practical point of view. Deeperontological security, however, relates to the individual’s life history, and to places thatrepresent continuity, daily routines and the constitution of identity for that individual. Thestudy investigates the significance of ...
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