Haley-Banez, Lynn Marie. “Lesbian Couple’s Narratives.” Ph. D diss., Kent State University, 1997.

Abstract:
Although the literature on lesbian couples has grown over recent years, very few studies have examined the narratives of lesbian couples who are currently in long-term relationships. Informed by social construction theory, feminist research theory, and the work of Jerome Bruner (1990) regarding the influence of persons and events in changing self-narratives over time, this study explored how lesbian couples in long-term relationships construct and maintain their couple's narratives over time. This study also examined how working with the dialectical text of a couple's narrative informs the couple or impacts the construction of their couple's narrative. A qualitative design using constant comparative analysis, with triangulation of data, was used to address the research questions. The main source of information was interviews with four lesbian couples from diverse backgrounds. Additional data was gathered through interviews with a friend, a member of their family of origin, or a member of their family of choice, observation of the couple during an event that was identified by the couple as meaningful to the couple, a review of other documents that had chronicled their life together, such as photographs, video tapes, and legal documents. Member checking and an outside reader were utilized to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. The researcher analyzed this data for emergent themes and patterns in the transcribed text.

The results of this study suggested that lesbian couples co-constructed their couples' narratives through negotiation and by weaving together meaningful events. Their narratives were changed and maintained over time by persons, events, and through hard work. In working with their dialectical text, the results suggested that the couples felt empowered and validated, with some couples becoming more aware of their strengths as a couple.