Interviewed widowed persons (N=50) to examine nature of pre-, during-, and post-funeral rituals and the potential of those rituals in facilitation of grief work. While no significant relationship was found between amount of ritual practiced and degree of adaptive grieving, results suggest that post-funeral rituals may have an impact on grief work.…

Examined whether prior expectation of death and participation of the bereaved (N=50) in funeral rituals facilitates grief adjustment. Results showed prior expectation of death was significantly related to subsequent grief adjustment. Participation in funeral rituals was important in cases in which death was unexpected. (JAC)

A sample population of 692 individuals was utilized to investigate the stages of bereavement. Results yielded a series of five stages the mourner passes through. The stages, which indicate final acceptance for mourners as occurring around the eighth month after death, were resolved as normal. (Author)

Describes the psychological states associated with normal grief and mourning in widows, using Kelly's theory of personal constructs. Suggests that adaptation to dislocation of the personal construct system involves two inseparable processes, assimilation and accommodation, which can determine the efficacy of adjustment to bereavement. (JAC)

Examined responses of 1,110 terminally ill persons with cancer at varying time periods prior to death. Disengagement and Objective Self-Awareness theories, which suggest that people nearing death would increase desire to separate from others, were not supported. Found few differences in responses of persons further from, or closer to, death.…

Explores approach to dealing with human death. Describes floating perspective, based on insights from Choron and Jaspers, as suggesting it is possible to deal with human death by refraining from taking ultimate position on the problem. Position encourages openness to death. Examines role of anxiety and describes possible meaningful outcomes of…

Sees dissociative functions in mourning process as occurring in conjunction with integrative trends. Considers initial shock reaction in mourning as model of normal dissociation in mourning process. Dissociation is understood to be related to traumatic significance of death in human consciousness. Discerns four psychological categories of…

Presents case for designation of "ritual" as psychotherapeutic technique for use in maladaptive grieving. Gives examples of attitudes and use of rituals in psychoanalysis, strategic and existential psychotherapies, and pastoral and cross-cultural counseling. Suggests how, when, and why rituals can be used to assist individuals to move…

Discusses the deep attachment the widowed elderly often maintain for the deceased spouse, based on naturalistic observations and interviews with six widow(er)s. Five themes of the marital tie continue throughout widowhood, including caring, family feeling, commitment, and reciprocal identity support. (JAC)

Conducted mail survey and personal interviews with gravediggers to examine how gravedigger views his job's positive and negative characteristics and degree to which he is affected by daily encountered sadness of job. Findings showed that several issues were of concern to gravediggers; sadness of the job was multi-faceted; its intensity varied and…

Bereaved husbands and wives (n=33) whose child had died completed Grief Experience Inventory at three times over one-year period. Found significant differences between grief levels of spouses' responses and/or differences over time in 10 of 12 variables: denial, despair, guilt, loss of control, rumination, depersonalization, somatization, death…

Examined belief in afterlife and bereavement recovery following death by suicide, homicide, accident, or natural causes. Bereaved persons (n=121) completed scales measuring belief in afterlife, impact of event, perceived recovery, spiritual well-being, emotional pain, and social support. Feeling of recovery following bereavement appeared enhanced…

Interview and written testimony from over 300 mothers and fathers who had experienced a stillbirth suggest themes common to these bereaved families: shock, blame, guilt and hardship; desperate need to remember; utility of autopsies and funerals; irrational and terrifying thoughts; need for support systems; issues surrounding surviving siblings and…

Reviews death-related experiences and concerns of Hmong refugees from Laos. Discusses traditional funerary and burial practices of the Hmong and barriers to maintaining these practices in the United States. Draws parallels between Hmong experiences and those of Holocaust victims. Discusses implications for those who work with the dying and…

Investigated impact of pet ownership on the health status of recently widowed urban middle-class women. Findings suggest pet ownership may have a salutary effect on the adjustment of recently widowed women in terms of symptom experiences and proneness to utilization of medication. (Author/KS)