Finding Support in a Field of Devastation: Bereaved Parents' Narratives of Communication and Recovery

Abstract

The researcher employed Hastings's (2000) use of fractured identities to analyze recovery in 5 married couples' narratives of parental bereavement. The research question guiding this study asked what forms of communicative support are described in bereaved parents' narratives that promote the recovery of their fractured identities. Through narratives from in-depth interviews three forms of communication that support recovery were identified: acknowledgement, compassion, and inclusion. A discussion defines recovery and delineates each communicative form. Theoretical implications for supporting fractured identities are explored, as well as practical implications for researchers and social networks. Finally, limitations and areas for future research are addressed.How do we recover from a loss that is so great it shatters our way of life, destroys our dreams, causes friends to ignore us, breaks up our family, and leaves us in seemingly endless despair? These are the realities, feelings, and communicative challenges faced by parents who have lost a child. When parents endure the death of a child, they must undergo one of the most heartbreaking and life-altering events any

“We Were All in the Same Boat”: An Exploratory Study of Communal Coping in Disaster Recovery

“…However, fragmented, varied, or incomplete narratives reveal coping, and identity, that is ongoing, stalled, or that never occurred (van der Kolk & Fisler, 1995). Interestingly, researchers have documented connections between narrative and social support (Giannini, 2011), though they generally focus on narratives specific to the individual rather than those shared by a large group, for example, a community.…”

A maior dor do mundo: o luto materno em uma perspectiva fenomenológica

“…No relato das mães entrevistadas, o desejo de perpetuação da memória dos filhos também aparece como mais um elemento constituinte da vivência do luto, confirmando outros achados (Giannini, 2011;Gudmundsdottir & Chesla, 2006;Martins, 2001) A despeito da função clara de não permitir que os aspectos bons da vida dos filhos sejam esquecidos, é ainda difícil compreender se este já seria um momento de ressignificação da relação eu-tu, ou propriamente um momento do processo de luto de um filho. Homenagens em cemitérios, locais públicos, fotos, relatos escritos e verbais da história do filho, manutenção do quarto do filho, entre outras tantas formas de perpetuar a sua memória, são manifestações amplas e complexas da relação que a mãe passa a ter com o filho morto.…”

“…Após sua morte, ela assumiu o sonho do filho: O discurso destas mães sinaliza que engajar-se em um projeto relacionado ao filho possui um forte e significativo valor na vivência do luto. Esse engajamento pode ser um fator de enfrentamento para mães enlutadas, uma vez que ao lidarem com a realidade da morte elas se permitem ressignificar o lugar de seus filhos em suas vidas, além de configurarem novos laços sociais que, como aponta Giannini (2011), são fundamentais para o processo de luto.…”

“You’re risking being branded a bad parent…if you tell a story like that”

“…Most narrative scholarship within the realm of parenthood and parenting looks at stories parents tell to children. There are two exceptions to this gap in the literature: 1) a narrative-focused study about parental bereavement tales after the death of a child (Giannini, 2011), and 2) a short report about the utility of sharing online narratives of traumatic childbirth in the UK (MacLellan, 2015). Both studies found individuals utilizing narrative (in an online and offline context) to negotiate their identity as parents by telling stories about bereavement, and traumatic tales of the birth of their child.…”

“…Both studies found individuals utilizing narrative (in an online and offline context) to negotiate their identity as parents by telling stories about bereavement, and traumatic tales of the birth of their child. Giannini (2011) explains that the death of a child often results in bereaved parents feeling as if they cannot, or should not, continue to talk about their grief beyond a certain timeframe after the death. Bereaved parents are socially constrained in their ability to narrate about their child's life after death (Wheeler, 2001).…”