Does Apologizing Help? The Role of Self-Blame and Making Amends in Recovery from Bereavement

Weinberg, Nancy

doi:10.1093/hsw/20.4.294

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Couple-focused therapy and group interventions may be particularly effective for helping bereaved parents to develop shame resilience (Brown, 2006). Guilt may be alleviated by apologizing, making amends, forgiving oneself or being forgiven, and contemplating thinking patterns that contribute to guilt (Kubany & Watson, 2003;Weinberg, 1995). Parental involvement in end-of-life caregiving, when possible, should be encouraged.…”

Section: Authors' Conclusion Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Self-Blame, Guilt, and Shame

Duncan

Cacciatore

2015

Omega (Westport)

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This is the first systematic review of the evidence on the prevalence of self-blame, guilt, and shame in bereaved parents. A search of PsychINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, and Science Direct resulted in 18 studies for the period 1975 to 2013 which the authors have appraised. Self-blame, guilt, and shame are common in bereaved parents, albeit to varying degrees, with differential relationships to sex, and diminishing over time. There is some evidence that guilt and shame predict more intense grief reactions and that self-blame predicts posttraumatic symptomology, anxiety, and depression in bereaved parents. Heterogeneity of the studies and numerous methodological concerns limit the synthesis and strength of the evidence and the generalizability of the findings. Self-blame, guilt, and shame are commonly experienced by bereaved parents. Awareness of these affective states may assist clinicians in the identification of bereaved parents who are at a higher risk of developing adverse psychological outcomes. Overall, self-blame, guilt, and shame have received very little attention in the bereavement research, leaving many unanswered questions. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed. Self-blame, guilt, and shame are common in bereavement and may hinder the healthy progression of mourning (Buckle & Fleming, 2011;Humphrey, 2009;Rando, 1986 , 1989). However, self-blame, guilt, and shame have received relatively little attention in parental bereavement research. Reviews of guilt and shame in bereavement are either not current or comprehensive, narrative in style and therefore more susceptible to researcher bias or focused on various types of bereavement rather than parental bereavement specifically (Buckle & Fleming, 2011;Humphrey, 2009;Rando, 1986). Miles and Demi (1986) have proposed the only current theory of guilt in bereaved parents. While clinicians acknowledge that self-blame, guilt, and shame often hinder the progression of normal grieving, there are currently no robust, empirically tested theories of self-blame, guilt, and shame in bereaved parents to guide either diagnoses or interventions. This is the first systematic review of the literature on self-blame, guilt, and shame in bereaved parents characterized by a specific research question, inclusion and exclusion criteria, an explicit search strategy, systematic data extraction procedure, coding and analysis of the studies, methodological appraisal, and a synthesis of the available evidence text. These characteristics reduce the likelihood of reviewer bias or selective citation and provide readers with the information necessary to appraise both the included studies and the systematic review itself (Mulrow, 1994;Pai et al., 2004).Defining Self-Blame, Guilt, and Shame Both guilt and shame are self-conscious emotions involving self-blame (Tangney & Salovey, 1999) and, because they are intimately related, they are more difficult to observe as separate phenomena (Blum, 2008;Kubany & Watson, 2003;Silfver, 2007). ...

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Section: Authors' Conclusion Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Self-Blame, Guilt, and Shame

Duncan

Cacciatore

2015

Omega (Westport)

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“…One study reported higher guilt in natural compared with unnatural death (Bailley, Kral, & Dunham, 1999), other studies reported the opposite pattern (Gamino, Sewell, & Easterling, 2000;Hazzard, Weston, & Gutterres, 1992;Weinberg, 1995), and one study found no group difference (Harwood, Hawton, Hope, & Jacoby, 2002). Suicide survivors have been described as more vulnerable to guilt than following other types of bereavement (Jordan, 2001).…”

Section: Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One study found a positive correlation between guilt and psychiatric as well as traumatic reactions (Mizota et al, 2006), and another two documented an association between guilt and impaired physical health (Hazzard et al, 1992;Kowalski & Bondmass, 2008). The association between guilt and greater maladjustment is also reflected in positive correlations between guilt and normal or complicated grief symptoms (Akiyama et al, 2010;Boelen & Lensvelt-Mulders, 2005;Boelen, van den Bout, & van den Hout, 2003;Field et al, 2000;Gamino et al, 2000;Mizota et al, 2006;Weinberg, 1994Weinberg, , 1995. Lastly, an inverse relationship between guilt and positive outcome after bereavement further confirms the association between guilt and maladaptive health outcomes (Gamino et al, 2000).…”

Section: Guilt and Health Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guilt in Bereavement: A Review and Conceptual Framework

Stroebe

Chan

et al. 2013

Death Studies

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Thirty-four quantitative and 9 qualitative studies are reviewed to indicate current understanding of the nature and impact of guilt in bereavement. This overview suggests that guilt is especially prevalent among some vulnerable subgroups, and it is associated with maladaptive health outcomes. Being male, longer bereavement time, and good end-of life experience seem to be associated with less guilt feelings. However, definition ambiguity, measurement difficulties, and cultural insensitivity are evident in studies. Therefore, a multidimensional conceptualization of guilt and a structural model to guide future investigation of this phenomenon in the bereavement context is proposed.

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“…Again, the client needs to understand what the goals of bereavement work are such as disempowerment of the abuser, forgiveness, decreasing self-blame, understanding the abuse, and ultimately assisting in the bereavement process (Weinberg, 1995). After assessing readiness, clinicians may want to encourage the client to join a bereavement group or an abuse survivors group.…”

Section: Further Issues In Bereavement Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death of an Abuser: Does the Memory Linger On?

Monahan

2003

Death Studies

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Although the fields of bereavement and traumatology regarding childhood physical and sexual abuse have developed simultaneously, little information exists regarding the issues of bereavement for a sexual abuse survivor when the decedent was the abuser. This article is a case study that examines the reactions, themes, and attributions that individuals experience regarding the loss of a relative who was sexually abusive to them during childhood and discusses the impact of that abuse on the bereavement process.

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Does Apologizing Help? The Role of Self-Blame and Making Amends in Recovery from Bereavement

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

A Systematic Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Self-Blame, Guilt, and Shame

A Systematic Review of the Peer-Reviewed Literature on Self-Blame, Guilt, and Shame

Guilt in Bereavement: A Review and Conceptual Framework

Death of an Abuser: Does the Memory Linger On?

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