The purpose of this research was to describe AIDS memorials on the Web and to explore relationship differences among those who were grieving loved ones who had died with AIDS, through a thematic content analysis of the memorials the bereft posted on the Web. We identified an AIDS Web site that contained 900 memorials; the memorials often were emotionally intense and personal. We independently coded the memorials for characteristics of the authors, the deceased, and the memorials themselves. Slightly more men than women were memorial authors, and although memorials were authored by a wide variety of individuals, the vast majority of authors fell into seven broad categories: partners, spouses, children, parents, siblings, extended family, and friends. In the memorial content, we identified 2l themes; overall, content of the memorials was dissimilar to obituaries. Content of the memorials as described above were treated as dependent measures in a series of analyses, with relationship between the bereaved and the deceased the independent variable. Memorials written by parents were shortest, while those written by partners or spouses were longest. Partners and spouses revealed the highest emotional intensity, while extended family and friends revealed the lowest. Children most strongly expressed the theme of grief while parents expressed this least strongly. All groups expressed love for the deceased; friends most commonly relayed specific stories about the deceased or discussed how the deceased had influenced them. The authors posit that AIDS memorials on the Web give authentic voice to disenfranchised grievers' sense of loss and suffering.

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Using a narrative approach, this study explores the role of the Holocaust in the life stories of Survivors, contrasted with two comparison groups (one Jewish and one non-Jewish) whose direct experiences did not include surviving the Holocaust. Using the technique of the life line and measures such as number and type of life events identified, as well as the events marking the beginning and ending of the life story, several differences were found between the three groups. Survivors identified an average of 10 life events, fewer than the non-Jewish comparison group (18) but more than the Jewish comparison group (7). Most of these events were positive, although less so for the Jewish comparison group, with very few future events identified by any of the groups. The War marked the beginning of the life story for most of the survivors and their stories ended at an earlier age than did the stories of the comparison groups. Further, WWII events predominated in the stories of the survivors, as did family births and relationship events (comparably seen in the stories of the Jewish comparisons). In contrast, the comparison groups, and particularly the non-Jewish group, identified greater numbers of career, education, illness, and family death events. It is proposed that the pronounced effect of the Holocaust in the life stories of survivors (and to a lesser, though still evident, degree of the Jewish comparisons) serves as an anchoring and contextual influence on the nature and quality of life stories told. That is, the Holocaust sets the standard for what events merit mention and further determines the nature of the events reported and their distribution.

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