Coping with the Ultimate Deprivation: Narrative Themes in a Parental Bereavement Support Group

Abstract

Support groups are often used to help individuals cope with challenging and unusual life circumstances through narration. Yet, little is known about specific meta-communication within a support group setting and in what ways these interactions may benefit participants. This study uncovers narrative themes that were expressed during a series of support group meetings specific to bereaved parents. Three central narratives were revealed in the analysis including the death story narrative, coping/negotiating narrative, and connecting through communication with others narrative. This research underscores the vital outlet that the support group serves for participants and the communicative means by which subjective healing can occur.

Mediating Grief: Postmortem Ritualization After Child Death

“…Many parents are, indeed, influenced to participate in ritual through social venues such as support groups and communion with other bereaved parents (Umphrey & Cacciatore, 2011). Here they are able to re-create the child's biographical sketch (Walter, 1996).…”

Bereaved Grandparents-We Didn’t Know Our Part

“…As reported by others [24], some grandparents found their social networks unwilling or unable to let them talk about the loss. Like bereaved parents, they were expected to "be over" their grief in a certain amount of time [25] and perceived they should no longer be talking about their grandchild [26]. This confirmed to the grandparents the lack of recognition by society that a deceased baby in the family matters and their grief was disenfranchised [7], unrecognized as a family tragedy [27].…”

Razlike U Percipiranim Koristima Članstva U Različitim Tipovima Grupa Za Samopomoć I Podršku

“…In the area of groups for parents of children, the study on a social comparison in the support group for parents of children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy revealed a wide range of positive and negative upward and downward social comparison on illness and coping dimensions (Hodges & Dibb, 2010), while an analysis of narrative themes in a parental bereavement support group revealed that talking with members of the group about the death story, about coping/negotiating and talking in the group about experiences in communication with others outside the group enables parents' recovery after the death of the child (Umphrey & Cacciatore, 2011). …”