Bereaved Parents’ Online Grief Communities: De-Tabooing Practices or Relation-Building Grief-Ghettos?

Christensen, Dorthe Refslund; Segerstad, Ylva Hård af; Kasperowski, Dick; Sandvik, Kjetil

doi:10.1080/08838151.2016.1273929

Cited by 27 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Externalized CB expresses itself in hallucinations, delusions, and illusions, and represents attachment-seeking behavior and denial of the reality of the loss and death; these phenomena can be intrusive and disturbing for the bereaved (Field, 2006; Field & Filanowsky, 2010; Field et al, 1999). Internalized CB would be the soothing mental recall of the deceased, expressed through rituals, symbols, visiting graves, retaining objects and photos, or talking about the deceased (Christensen et al, 2017; Field & Filanosky, 2010; Field et al, 2005), as well as through various manifestations of identification with the deceased, such as taking on the traits, values, or beliefs of the lost person or doing things that would have pleased the deceased (Albuquerque et al, 2020; Foster et al, 2011). Field assumed that the internalized CB promoted good adjustment to loss, representing the continuation of a trusting and intimate relationship accompanied by identification with positive values and characteristics of the attachment figure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concrete and symbolic continuing bonds with a deceased person: The psychometric properties of the continuing bonds scale in bereaved surviving family members

Sękowski

2021

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Based on the research on continuing bonds (CB) with a deceased person to date, the reports of clinicians, and the contemporary theory of attachment, two dimensions of CB were distinguished: (i) a concrete CB, essentially characteristic of unresolved and prolonged grief, and (ii) a symbolic CB, specific to grief resolution. The psychometric properties of the Continuing Bonds Scale (CBS) were examined in a sample of persons from Poland ( N = 244) bereaved after the death of a family member from 0.5 to 18 years before the survey ( M = 3.45, SD = 2.25). In the first sub-sample ( n = 141), the exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure of the CBS: the concrete and the symbolic dimension of the CB with the deceased. In the second sub-sample ( n = 103), a good fit of this two-factor model of the CBS was determined by confirmatory factor analysis. At the bivariate analysis level, the concrete CB with the deceased positively correlated with attachment anxiety, and negatively with grief resolution and time since loss; the symbolic CB negatively correlated with attachment avoidance. When predicting grief resolution for two dimensions of CB (controlling for adult attachment, and sociodemographic and loss-related variables), concrete CB was a negative predictor, and symbolic CB was a positive predictor of the outcome variable. The internal consistency of the CBS subscales was acceptable. The CBS is a valid and reliable measure of two different CB dimensions. The model of concrete and symbolic CB with the deceased was discussed in the light of the current results and contemporary attachment theory.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concrete and symbolic continuing bonds with a deceased person: The psychometric properties of the continuing bonds scale in bereaved surviving family members

Sękowski

2021

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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“…As argued by Hoffmann and Jonas (2017), future Internet research would also benefit from problematizing ethical issues in terms of justice and fairness. In keeping with this perspective, Christensen et al (2017) have recently conceptualized mourners as counter-publics (Fraser, 1990) and thus (re)affirmed the political dimension of public grief expression. This axiological stance is not insignificant, as it goes beyond privacy issues and consent procurement, and focuses on the stigma associated with online mourning.…”

Section: Claims Thatmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…1 Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada 2 Université du Québec à Montréal, Québec, Canada (Bosticco & Thompson, 2005;Christensen, Hård af Segerstad, Kasperowski, & Sandvik, 2017;Walter, 1999). As Durkheim (1912Durkheim ( /2008 has pointed out long before social media came to be, "mourning is not the spontaneous expression of individual emotions."…”

Section: Research-article2018mentioning

confidence: 99%

Situating Ethics in Online Mourning Research: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies

Myles

Cherba

Millerand

2019

Qualitative Inquiry

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In the past decade, social media have put mourning practices at the forefront of daily life in ways that challenge assumptions made about the public disclosure of information often construed as being highly intimate. This article examines how researchers conceive online mourning in empirical studies and how such conceptions inform (or not) methodological and ethical decisions. Through a scoping review, we identified 40 empirical papers addressing online mourning. Our analysis shows that, while online mourning practices have overwhelmingly been problematized in terms of privacy and publicness within the current literature, ethical issues relating to their analysis have been scarcely addressed in empirical research. In line with Foucault’s work on the dispositif, we then examine the performative role of privacy and data sensitivity in the context of online mourning research (notably in relation to consent procurement) and discuss our findings in light of emerging trends in context-based ethics.

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“…Implicit norms govern acceptable behavior, and in most Western societies, grieving too openly, too intensely or for too long is considered pathological behavior and therefore leads to self-blame among the bereaved (Scholtes & Browne, 2015). Bereaved parents often experience a lack of support and understanding for their situation, and an expectancy that they should move on, let go of their deceased child and get back to normal as soon as possible (Christensen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Stigma Of the Groups Studiedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch 22: The Paradox of Social Media Affordances and Stigmatized Online Support Groups

Yeshua-Katz

Segerstad

2020

Social Media + Society

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This study highlights the challenges of computer-mediated communication for vulnerable individuals and groups, by studying boundary work in stigmatized communities online. Five stigmatized online communities with different affordances were studied: (1) “pro-ana” blogs; (2) an infertility discussion board; (3) a Facebook group for bereaved parents; and (4) two WhatsApp groups for Israeli veterans of war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In-depth interviews with members and administrators ( n = 66) revealed that social media affordances such as low anonymity and high visibility may marginalize those living with stigma. While research literature applauds social media for allowing the formation and maintenance of social capital, our study highlights the paradox caused by these very same affordances. To offer safe and functioning environments of support, the communities must guard against impostors whose presence threatens their safe havens. Simultaneously, this may make these groups inaccessible to those who truly need support and remove such groups from the public eye.

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Bereaved Parents’ Online Grief Communities: De-Tabooing Practices or Relation-Building Grief-Ghettos?

Cited by 27 publications

References 13 publications

Concrete and symbolic continuing bonds with a deceased person: The psychometric properties of the continuing bonds scale in bereaved surviving family members

Concrete and symbolic continuing bonds with a deceased person: The psychometric properties of the continuing bonds scale in bereaved surviving family members

Situating Ethics in Online Mourning Research: A Scoping Review of Empirical Studies

Catch 22: The Paradox of Social Media Affordances and Stigmatized Online Support Groups

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