Complicating Mourning: The Social Economy of Perinatal Death

Abstract

In this article, the social economic practices related to perinatal death, based on Rando’s model of complicated mourning and on an analysis of interactions with social institutions identified in the literature as relevant to perinatal death, are examined. Data are reported from semistructured interviews with 22 individuals who lost children to perinatal death. Parents’ stories indicate that they were not provided with material social supports that normally would be provided to individuals in the case of a “real” birth or death. Family and community gestures, workplace measures, and medical and legal supports were either discouraged or actively withheld. This lack of financial and material support creates an informal social economy of perinatal death that conveys clear messages to parents regarding their rights and claims to support. It is evident that these practices contribute to feelings of non-legitimacy and to complicated mourning.

Fathers' Experience of Social Support After the Death of a Child

“…Social support may be unhelpful (Dakof & Taylor, 1990). Lack of social support has been linked to complicated or chronic grief (Hazzard, Weston, & Gutterres, 1992;Malacrida, 1999). For fathers, less social support was correlated significantly with more severe self-reported grief (Zeanah, Danis, Hirschberg, & Dietz, 1995).…”

“…According to de Montigny et al (1999) perinatal loss had a significant impact on the family members' quality and quantity of relations within their network. Parents who had lost a child felt a lack of social support, a sense of extreme isolation, and loneliness (Dyregrov, 1990;Malacrida, 1999). It is typical that mothers rely on more intimate social relationships than fathers, and that the social network supports mothers more (Dyregrov & Matthiesen, 1991;McCreight, 2004;Wagner, Higgins, & Wallerstedt, 1997).…”

Long-Term Effects of Political Violence: Narrative Inquiry Across a 20-Year Period

“…Sudden and violent death of a child was particularly traumatic (Malacrida, 1999;Rando, 1993), and time did not mitigate against poor coping. Twenty years after the events, people still relayed their traumatic experiences vividly: The police didn't even come to tell my mother, we heard it on the news.…”

Parental Grief and Memento Mori Photography: Narrative, Meaning, Culture, and Context

“…Parents facing early child loss-perinatal deathsuffer no less (Arnold, Gemma, & Cushman, 2005), yet they face the additional burden that their baby is not socially recognized as significant (Frøen et al, 2011). The disenfranchised nature of grief (Doka, 1989) in perinatal death contributes to a complicated mourning process for many parents (Cacciatore, 2010;Cacciatore & Bushfield, 2008;Malacrida, 1999). Dominant ideologies expressed through social, cultural, medical, legal, religious, and economic institutions may call into question the validity of their bereavement and the status of their children as legitimate entities (Cacciatore & Bushfield, 2008;Lovell, 1983;Malacrida, 1999).…”

“…The disenfranchised nature of grief (Doka, 1989) in perinatal death contributes to a complicated mourning process for many parents (Cacciatore, 2010;Cacciatore & Bushfield, 2008;Malacrida, 1999). Dominant ideologies expressed through social, cultural, medical, legal, religious, and economic institutions may call into question the validity of their bereavement and the status of their children as legitimate entities (Cacciatore & Bushfield, 2008;Lovell, 1983;Malacrida, 1999). Many bereaved parents resist such devaluation, insisting that their baby and their parental identities are, in fact, important and very ''real'' (Layne, 2000).…”