Meaning Making in Wartime Bereavement: Lessons Learned From Bereaved Parents and Siblings

Abstract

Wartime deaths are traumatic and leave many grieving families in their wake. Yet, the unique, nuanced bereavement needs and experiences of those who remain are largely unknown. This Canadian, qualitative study examined the bereavement experiences of family of origin, bereaved during the mission to Afghanistan. The findings provide rich data on the predominant ways in which family members found and made meaning following the death and the ways in which military culture influenced the meanings made.

Women’s Experiences of Medical Miss-Diagnosis: How does gender matter in healthcare settings?

“…Narratives enable sense-making by providing spaces for sharing stories, along with a sense of closure and validation, particularly when narratives represent troubling experiences (Akman et al, 2001;Latz, 1994;Rickard, 2015). Sense-making can be seen as the interplay between inner dialogue and social contexts, where sense emerges over time through multiple interactions and recounting of experiences, either alone or with others, enabling insight into an experience (Dowding et al, 2016;Harrington, 2017;Wright et al, 2004). Narratives are thus a valuable way to organise human experience and social relationships.…”

Risk Factors for Complicated Grief in the Military Community

“…One reason age is a risk factor for the development of complicated grief is that when someone dies at a young age, the death often disrupts the life course of survivors, preventing them from proceeding through momentous and generational life events such as marriage, the birth of children, the birth of grandchildren, or other plans and milestones with the deceased (Harrington, 2017). In addition to grieving both the life and the future of a loved one, young survivors may find it difficult to connect with relevant and meaningful social support in the wake of their loss.…”

“…For parents who are grieving the death of their service member or veteran over the age of 18, they are often left without a comparable community of grievers within the civilian population (Harrington-LaMorie et al., 2018). Without a comparable community of grievers, many parents may find it difficult to meet others who understand their loss and can provide them with empathetic social support (Harrington, 2017; Harrington-LaMorie et al., 2018; LaMorie, 2011). Surviving spouses, significant others, and children face a similar challenge in finding a community of support.…”

“…Research on complicated grief and the military indicates members of the military community are at higher risk of experiencing complicated grief than in the civilian population (Cozza et al., 2016; Delaney et al., 2017; Harrington, 2017). This research suggests that rates of complicated grief may be higher in the military community due to the traumatic nature of military death in relation to combat loss and military deployments (Charney et al., 2018; Delany et al., 2017; Harrington, 2017). However, a large proportion of military deaths occur outside of combat, from a variety of causes to include training accidents, suicide and illness, and can likewise lead to complicated grief.…”

Gold star motherhood: spectacle, emotion, and identity construction

“…One study (Harrington 2017) looked at the meaning making processes of families of fallen soldiers from a psychological angle, finding that the public attention of military funerals and ceremonies may prolong accommodations of grief for families, create a segmented self of the deceasedseparating their identity as soldier and identity as son/brother/athleteand the reconstruction of identity parents and siblings undergo exemplified by introducing themselves as their fallen child's parent.…”