Arab Muslim Mothers’ Struggle Attributing Meaning to Child Loss in Home Accidents

Okolie, Ugochukwu Chinonso

doi:10.1080/15325024.2021.2013673

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…They are difficult to contain, especially for the mother who ascribes a great measure of the blame to herself. Mothers feel responsible not only for causing the child's death but also for the violent way in which it occurred, causing intense physical suffering for the child (Ismail, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Competing aspects of the rural Arab mothers' bereavement experience

Okolie

Dekel

2023

Journal Community Psychology

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The study applied relational dialectics theory to explore competing discourses in bereaved Arab mothers' talk about their bereavement experience in a collective space in rural areas of Israel, and to understand how the interaction between these discourses gives meaning to their experience. Fifteen bereaved mothers were interviewed. The mothers, aged 28–46 years, had children (aged 1–6 years) who died between 2 and 7 years previously. Analysis of the interviews revealed three main discursive struggles that characterize mothers' bereavement experience: (a) moving closer versus keeping one's distance; (b) social harmony versus personal needs; and (c) criticism of ongoing grief versus criticism of returning to routine functioning. The advantage of being part of a close‐knit social network is that it provides emotional cushioning to the bereaved. This cushioning, however, does not preclude the struggle to attain normalcy after the tragedy within the parameters of the contradictory societal expectations and needs of the mourner.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%