Auto/biographical approaches to researching death and bereavement: connections, continuums, contrasts

Brennan, Michael; Letherby, Gayle

doi:10.1080/13576275.2017.1291604

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The focus of such autoethnographies is evocative emphasising the story as the central product of the research (Ellis et al, 2011). In contrast, I frame my research as analytic autoethnography (Anderson, 2006) an approach which positions the stories of lived experience within the cultural context and emphasises constructed and situated knowledges of bereavement (Brennan & Letherby, 2017). An analytic approach to autoethnography positions experiences within the current knowledge of suicide and broader societal contexts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An analytic approach to autoethnography positions experiences within the current knowledge of suicide and broader societal contexts. The stories focus on specific experiences of the structural meanings of suicide (Brennan & Letherby, 2017) and, as such, seek to contribute to social constructionist understandings of the experience of being bereaved by suicide.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making meaning of being bereaved by suicide: an everyday experience

Carlon¹

2020

Mortality

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This autoethnography explores the experience of societal meanings of suicide from the perspective of people bereaved by suicide. The research focuses on three autoethnographic stories of everyday experiences in which personal meaning making and societal meanings of suicide intersect in contemporary Australian settings. Personal perspectives are positioned alongside broader discussions of suicide taboo to consider the implications for agency and meaning making. Key differences between conventional notions of stigma and structural stigma, and ways in which suicide taboo influences meaning making for people bereaved by suicide are explored. The paper proposes a recasting of action previously framed as internalised stigma as proactive self-preservation by people bereaved by suicide. It concludes by arguing that building capacity to see the societal taboos of suicide creates opportunities for strengthening agency in personal narratives of bereavement by suicide.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making meaning of being bereaved by suicide: an everyday experience

Carlon¹

2020

Mortality

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“…However, critics of auto/biography assert that it is self-indulgent and both academically and intellectually weak. In rebutting that accusation, Brennan and Letherby (2017) counter that auto/biographyenables us to read the contextual into the personal and it is an epistemological approach that acknowledges the significance of the personhood of all involved. A self-conscious auto/biographical approach is academically rigorous in that it highlights the social location of the writer and makes clear the author’s role in the process of constructing rather than discovering the story/the knowledge.…”

Section: Introducing the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, Brennan and Letherby (2017) argue that auto/biography recognises and acknowledges the significance of the personal contexts of both the researcher and the other. They extend their argument to make a case for an ‘autobiographical continuum’ (Brennan and Letherby, 2017: 54) ranging from auto/biography to auto/biography. The former refers to academics that write about themselves and recognise the importance of others in their story.…”

Section: Introducing the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, there is no set format for structuring or style of writing an auto/biographical piece. However, Brennan and Letherby (2017) contend that ‘auto/biographical reflection’ should be incorporated throughout any social science piece (p. 156). I will ‘situate’ myself in the next section and then explore ‘auto/biographical pinch points’: occasions that demonstrate tensions between structure and agency.…”

Section: Introducing the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

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Men and me(n)

Hadley

2020

Methodological Innovations

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There is an absence of literature on the dynamics of men interviewing men generally and particularly, on sensitive subjects. Childless men are, compared to women, absent from geographical, gerontological, psychological, reproductive and sociological research. These disciplines have mainly focussed on motherhood, women and family formation. Over the past 15 years, research literature on both involuntary childlessness and ageing has highlighted the paucity of material on men’s experience. Consequently, the fertility intentions, history and experience of men have been overlooked. Infertility research has shown that failure to fulfil the status of parenthood may lead to a complex form of bereavement and is a significant challenge to identity. In this piece, I draw on my experience of conducting an auto/biographical doctoral study on the life experiences of 14 involuntarily childless older men. I briefly explore the literature surrounding research interviews with men participants. I highlight the gender dynamics encountered in both interview and wider academic settings. I identify how danger, harm and risk are present in academic environments such as conferences. I use my experience to illustrate how physical, emotional and ethical dangers affect one’s sense of self. I argue that ethical standards should be applied to all research locations.

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A Case for Auto/Biography

Parsons

Chappell

2020

The Palgrave Handbook of Auto/Biography

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to convene the British Sociological Association's Auto/Biography Study Group in 1992. The group was committed to understanding lives because, as Stanley (1993a: 2) notes:Lives are an interesting place to be, partly because there are so few areas of work in the social sciences and humanities which do not involve auto/biography in one form or another, but perhaps mainly because the auto/biographical forms a radical departure -truly a reconceptualisation -in the way we think and work as well as in the subject matter we deal with.At the time, Stanley suggested that auto/biography was essential for the social sciences as:..maximally it mounts a principled and concerted attack on conventional views that 'works' are separate from lives, that there can be an epistemology which is not ontologically based. That science can be objective. Auto/biography intends an epistemological revolution within the social sciences (Stanley, 1994: i).In order to initiate this 'revolution' the group convenors began publishing a bulletin in 1992 and held a conference that led to a special issue of Sociology in 1993. The bulletin became a self-published journal in 1994 and was then picked up by a publisher in 1998. In 2007 the publication changed to the Auto/Biography Yearbook. The work of the group sat alongside, but discrete from, the developing fields of narrative, biography, and life history, amongst others.The material in the journals has consistently been rich, interdisciplinary and challenging in nature, edited from 1998 to the present day by Andrew Sparkes whilst Jenny Byrne, Gill Clarke and Michael Erben have led on maintaining the pattern of two conferences a year. Alongside this there have been a range of significant books, including monographs published by the study group, that have contributed directly and significantly to the field of auto/biography (Stanley,

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Auto/biographical approaches to researching death and bereavement: connections, continuums, contrasts

Cited by 29 publications

References 52 publications

Making meaning of being bereaved by suicide: an everyday experience

Making meaning of being bereaved by suicide: an everyday experience

Men and me(n)

A Case for Auto/Biography

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