Of broken bonds and bondage: an analysis of loss in the Slave Narrative Collection

Disenfranchised grief following African American Homicide loss: an inductive case study

Disenfranchised grief is experienced when a mourner's grief response is socially invalidated, unacknowledged, or discouraged. When the circumstances of death or the emotional reactions of the griever violate social norms, empathic failures can occur within the bereaved individual's support systems. This study used conventional content analysis, an intensive and inductive qualitative research method, to analyze the experience of one African American woman who lost her only son to homicide, a particularly distressing and marginalized form of loss. Results elucidate both the empathic failings and resiliencies within the social systems of this griever and emerged from the perspectives offered by the bereaved mother and her primary supporter. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Meanings African American Caregivers Ascribe to Dementia-Related Changes: The Paradox of Hanging on to Loss

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, this study explored the meaning African American (AA) caregivers ascribed to the dementia-related changes in their care-recipients.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Data were gathered in this qualitative study with 22 in-depth interviews. Eleven AA caregivers for persons with dementia, living in the Pacific Northwestern United States, were interviewed twice. Four caregivers participated in an optional observation session.

RESULTS

Analysis based on the hermeneutic circle revealed that, for these caregivers, the dementia-related changes meant that they had to hang on to the care-recipients for as long as possible. Caregivers recognized that the valued care-recipients were changed, but still here and worthy of respect and compassion. Ancestral family values, shaped by historical oppression, appeared to influence these meanings.

IMPLICATIONS

The results from this study suggest that AA caregivers tend to focus on the aspects of the care-recipients' personalities that remain, rather than grieve the dementia-related losses. These findings have the potential to deepen gerontologists' understanding of the AA caregiver experience. This, in turn, can facilitate effective caregiver decision making and coping.

Complicated spiritual grief II: a deductive inquiry following the loss of a loved one

Recent studies have revealed an association between complicated grief-a severe, prolonged response to the loss of a loved one-and complicated spiritual grief-a spiritual crisis following loss. Furthermore, bereavement research has benefitted from a number of studies using qualitative inquiry as a means of examining the experiences of individuals grieving a variety of types of losses. However, a gap in the literature remains in terms of the qualitative investigation of spiritual struggle following loss. Thus, using participants' written responses to open-ended questions along with systematic exploration of this topic with a five-member focus group, we designed this qualitative study to better understand the firsthand experiences of bereaved individuals who have suffered a crisis of faith after the death of a loved one. Specifically, our directed content analysis of bereaved focus group members' responses revealed 17 different common and salient themes subsumed in an overarching narrative of resentment and doubt toward God, dissatisfaction with the spiritual support received, and substantial changes in the bereaved person's spiritual beliefs and behaviors. Thus, our study clarified the construct of complicated spiritual grief, and laid the groundwork for development of more specific assessment and treatment of this condition.