The Post-Funeral Ritual in Bereavement Counseling and Grief Work

While a great deal has been written about phenomena associated with assisting persons in coping with losses, and, more specifically, the meaning of funeral practices in grief work, little discussion has taken place regarding the importance of "ritual leave-taking" during the post-funeral period. In order to ascertain the potential of a significant relationship between active ritual leave-taking and grief adjustment, 50 widowed persons were interviewed regarding the rituals they practiced before, during and after the death of their spouse. The data collected reflect the number and type of rituals practiced and the potential for discovering a significant relationship between the practice of post-funeral rituals and grief adjustment. While preliminary in nature, the outcomes of the study illustrate a link between positive grief work and post-funeral rituals. Suggestions for those who regularly assist the bereaved in grief work are advised to give greater attention to the potential of focusing their bereavement counseling on post-funeral "ritual leave-taking."     

Counseling the Bereaved

This paper considers many of the theoretical and practical issues underlying the provision of bereavement counseling, and discusses (a) risk factors for bereaved people, (b) therapeutic assessment of bereaved people and planning of care, (c) provision of services aimed at diminishing risk and facilitating grief and mourning, (d) key issues of family and social support in bereavement counseling, and (e) the need for further development and coordination of services for the bereaved.     

Grief Support Groups Used by Few—

Abstract

Few adult bereaved attend closed grief support groups, yet many of those who do attend say they are extremely helpful. This research explores factors influencing support group attendance, and the extent to which bereavement support needs are being met. Focus group discussions reveal that a broad scope of sources of support is available to the bereaved. Results show what is seen as unhelpful to them, and what might be more helpful to them. The study indicates many adult bereaved suffer from an overall lack of support and would benefit from more caring overtures from those around them. Findings from this small frontline hospice bereavement study point toward ideas for adjustments in support groups and innovative bereavement education and programming.     

Grief support groups used by few--are bereavement needs being met?

Few adult bereaved attend closed grief support groups, yet many of those who do attend say they are extremely helpful. This research explores factors influencing support group attendance, and the extent to which bereavement support needs are being met. Focus group discussions reveal that a broad scope of sources of support is available to the bereaved. Results show what is seen as unhelpful to them, and what might be more helpful to them. The study indicates many adult bereaved suffer from an overall lack of support and would benefit from more caring overtures from those around them. Findings from this small frontline hospice bereavement study point toward ideas for adjustments in support groups and innovative bereavement education and programming.     

The Grief Experience of Prison Inmate Hospice Volunteer Caregivers

Correctional institutions are obligated to provide end-of-life care to a population with complex medical needs. Prison hospices are increasingly being formed to address this demand. Few empirical studies have examined the impact of caring for dying inmates on the hospice inmate volunteers, who, in several prison health care systems, provide direct care. In this study, experiences of the inmate hospice volunteers with death were investigated to illuminate their grief processes. Understanding the bereavement needs of hospice volunteers and how prison hospice volunteers navigate grief and remain committed to providing excellent hospice care can inform the grief processes and practices of hospice care professionals.     

The Validation of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief on an Older Latino Sample

Abstract

Purpose: Bereavement is considered to be one of the most profound experiences in older adulthood. However, assessments of emotional reactions to grief and loss have often been based on measures tested on primarily Anglo samples. This study examined the validity and factor structure of a commonly used bereavement measure on an older Latino sample.

Design and Methods: Using convergent and discriminant validation procedures, this instrument was tested using a purposive sample of 134 older, recently bereaved Latinos.

Results: While the instrument was originally designed to measure two domains of grief: Past Behaviors and Present Feelings, confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution for this sample which included also Disbelief of the loss. Items within this domain included anger, rejection, and a sense of injustice.

Implications: This study underscores the need for improved measures in research on grief and bereavement to capture the intensity and severity of grief in a cross-cultural context.     

'She cried a very little': Death,grief and mourning in working-class culture,c . 1880-1914

Working-class attitudes towards death and bereavement in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain have overwhelmingly been discussed in terms of the respectable and the pauper funeral. Analyses of the culture of grief (that is, the emotional responses of the working classes to bereavement) have been reduced to an assumption that material insecurity blunted sensibility. This article argues that the reduction of working-class responses to death to a dichotomy between respectable and pauper funerals has overlooked the cathartic function of the funeral, negated the potential for individuals to invest burial rites with personal meaning, and failed to consider responses to death outside public mourning rites. I contend that languages of grief adopted many verbal and symbolic signs that were often ephemeral to the external observer. Moreover, material anxiety did not limit sensibility; it necessitated flexibility in the articulation of emotion. In conclusion, I argue that the emotional underpinnings of the working-class family need to be re-examined, using a definition of sensibility which acknowledges the mutability of feeling and the malleability of its expression.     

The role of the welfare state in supporting economic transitions following family bereavement: Comparing Britain and Israel

Despite its centrality to the experience of death and grief, it is only in recent years that the economic burden following family bereavement has been recognized by social care professionals and scholars. Based on the realization that death and bereavement are grounded in social context, and assuming this economic burden is a multifaceted phenomenon, the present study compares the British and Israeli welfare systems in three policy settings: social security, funeral services, and bereavement leave. The findings suggest that while in both systems bereavement and especially widowhood is considered a deserving category, recent pressures for restructuring the British welfare state have been successful in shifting provision from the state to the market. The findings also show that in both cases, albeit to a lesser extent in Israel, current policy measures are not fully aligned with critical scholarship on bereavement and its financial consequences, nor with socio‐economic and demographic trends. These disparities are addressed using the notion of disenfranchised grief and by emphasizing the pivotal, although often overlooked role of the welfare state in constituting it. Lastly, the differences between the two cases are discussed in terms of the powerful role of Judaism in shaping Israeli policy.     

Bereavement: the Contribution of Phenomenological and Existential Analysis to a Greater Understanding of the Problem

Summary Theoretical approaches to grief and mourning have emphasizedthe instinctual and biological elements of a person's responseto bereavement. The behaviour of bereaved individuals has thereforebeen interpreted on the basis of these theoretical models. Thispaper argues that an appreciation of the social context in whichbereavement occurs leads to a fuller understanding of observedresponses in such a situation. It thus emphasizes the socialnature of individuals rather than their biological make-up andprovides a theoretical frame of reference in terms of whichthis may be understood. Such an analysis also has implicationsfor the kind of help which is seen to be appropriate to theneeds of bereaved people. It is suggested that social workersshould develop a greater understanding of this approach andthat, on the basis of this, they would then have a particularrole to play in relation to this area of need     

Bereavement Research: An Historical Introduction

Early research in the field of bereavement and widowhood was often problem generated and focused on intrapersonal issues such as health consequences. More recent research has emphasized that, to understand the grieving individual, we must also understand the social context in which the bereavement occurred and in which recovery must progress. This introduction traces the historical development of theory, empirical research, and methodology in the field, and places current developments in perspective. The papers in this issue underline the complexity of the bereavement phenomenon, and the need for conceptual perspectives with which to understand the cultural, socioeconomic, interpersonal, and physiological determinants of grief, mourning, and recovery.     

Social Work,Siblings, and SIDS: Conceptual and Case-Based Guidance for Family System Intervention

ABSTRACT

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a tragic loss event within the family, impacting adults as well as children. This article uses three case illustrations to discuss the role of a SIDS event on the family system with a special focus on the emergent challenges for surviving siblings of various ages. Practice application examples are woven throughout the review to illustrate the age-specific grief responses which may occur following a SIDS event. The article also presents a theoretically supported intervention matrix that integrates models of bereavement support and family system responses, taking into account children's varying developmental needs and tasks based on sibling age.     

The Long‐Term Effects of Spousal Care Giving on Survivors' Well‐Being in Widowhood*

Objective. Previous research suggests that bereavement and adjustment to widowhood are long term and should be studied as processes rather than as static outcomes. We analyze how spousal care giving affects survivors' depressive symptoms 18 and 48 months into widowhood. Method. We use three waves of data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) Survey and estimate OLS regression equations to determine the long‐term effects of spousal care giving on widow(er)s' well‐being. Results. At 18 months, more burdensome spousal care giving predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, while greater caregiver stress predicted lower levels. Specific characteristics of the caregiving situation were no longer significant predictors of well‐being 48 months into widowhood, although care giving itself had an ameliorative effect on level of symptoms. Conclusions. The results highlight the dynamic nature of bereavement and suggest that the effects of spousal care and characteristics of the care situation on depressive symptoms during widowhood are not linear over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for the conceptualization of the relationship between care giving and bereavement.     

Social work, siblings, and SIDS: conceptual and case-based guidance for family system intervention

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a tragic loss event within the family, impacting adults as well as children. This article uses three case illustrations to discuss the role of a SIDS event on the family system with a special focus on the emergent challenges for surviving siblings of various ages. Practice application examples are woven throughout the review to illustrate the age-specific grief responses which may occur following a SIDS event. The article also presents a theoretically supported intervention matrix that integrates models of bereavement support and family system responses, taking into account children's varying developmental needs and tasks based on sibling age.     

Food Aid in Complex Emergencies: Lessons from Sudan

The term "complex emergency" was coined by the UN to imply a phenomenon characterized by a combination of causes (conflicts, war, famine, displacement) requiring a combination of responses (military, peacekeeping, relief ). The "complexity" refers to the "multi–mandate" nature of the response as well as the multi–causal nature of the emergency. Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), the UN humanitarian assistance programme in Sudan, has been described as history's largest humanitarian intervention in an active civil war, providing a model for the international community in what can be achieved in complex political emergencies. The paper reviews how humanitarian aid was used in Sudan, and the potential for that usage contributing to development. The political dimension of decisions taken and implemented by donors, the United Nations and non–governmental organizations is explored.     

Stillbirth: the mother's experience and implications for improving care

More children die as a result of stillbirth than all other causes of infant deaths combined (Ananth, Shiliang, Kinzler, and Kramer, 2005; Goldenberg, Kirby, and Culhane, 2004; Froen, 2005; National Institute of Health, 2004); yet, mothers experiencing stillbirth are often left without support afterwards (Kubler-Ross, 2004; Fahey-McCarthy, 2003; Fletcher 2002; Saddler, 1987; DeFrain, 1986; Kirkley-Best & Kellner, 1982). Despite social work's growing involvement in care at the end of life, parents of stillborn children have not experienced consistent, relevant, and competent professional care in coping with the tragedy of death. Forty-seven women between the ages of 19 and 51 were recruited through nonprofit agencies that provide bereavement care to grieving families. Results of this qualitative study suggest that stillbirth is emotionally complex with long-lasting symptoms of grief and significant struggles to find meaning. The findings also support the need for perceived psychosocial and spiritual support from professional caregivers, family, and friends. The women's own experiences argue for comprehensive approaches to support the grief and loss of stillbirth, and for the importance of social work involvement in both immediate and longer term interventions.     

Stillbirth: The Mother's Experience and Implications for Improving Care

ABSTRACT

More children die as a result of stillbirth than all other causes of infant deaths combined (Ananth, Shiliang, Kinzler, and Kramer, 2005; Goldenberg, Kirby, and Culhane, 2004; Froen, 2005; National Institute of Health, 2004); yet, mothers experiencing stillbirth are often left without support afterwards (Kubler-Ross, 2004; Fahey-McCarthy, 2003; Fletcher 2002; Saddler, 1987; DeFrain, 1986; Kirkley-Best & Kellner, 1982). Despite social work's growing involvement in care at the end of life, parents of stillborn children have not experienced consistent, relevant, and competent professional care in coping with the tragedy of death. Forty-seven women between the ages of 19 and 51 were recruited through nonprofit agencies that provide bereavement care to grieving families. Results of this qualitative study suggest that stillbirth is emotionally complex with long-lasting symptoms of grief and significant struggles to find meaning. The findings also support the need for perceived psychosocial and spiritual support from professional caregivers, family, and friends. The women's own experiences argue for comprehensive approaches to support the grief and loss of stillbirth, and for the importance of social work involvement in both immediate and longer term interventions.     

Digital Storytelling: Families’ Search for Meaning after Child Death

Bereaved families that collectively make meaning of their grief experiences often function better than those that do not, yet most social work bereavement interventions target individuals rather than family units. In this article, authors describe an innovative social work intervention that employs digital storytelling. This is a narrative technique that combines photography, music, and spoken word to help families bereaved by child death make meaning of their loss and envision a future without their deceased child.