Cultural Differences Among Elderly Women in Coping With the Death of An Adult Child

Abstract

This article describes differences between elderly Jewish and non-Jewish women in dealing with the death of an adult child. Dimensions of difference include the meaning of the death to the mother, her expression of grief, and her conceptualization of the future in the face of the loss. Results are based on data from 12 Jewish and 17 non-Jewish women taking part in a larger study examining generativity as a predictor of well-being in women over 60. Data collection included in-depth life histories and quantitative evaluations of well-being, affect, generativity, and personality variables associated with mothering. Qualitatively, Jewish women were depressed and fixed in grief, with the loss remaining central to their lives. Non-Jewish women articulated philosophies of acceptance, putting the death in a perspective that enabled them to move beyond their loss. Well-being, affect, generativity, and personality measures statistically supported the qualitative differences found between the groups.

Religion, Ethnicity, and Attitudes Toward Psychotherapy

“…In that study, Jewish mothers expressed greater external locus of control, despite seeing their loss as preventable or as a punishment for their own shortcomings (Goodman et al 1991). This intriguing dichotomy may be a function of personal and intergenerational traumatization through pervasive European anti-Semitism culminating in the near annihilation of European Ashkenazi Jews in the Holocaust (Brustein and King 2004).…”

Parental Experiences of Adult Child Death from Cancer

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The limited evidence indicates that approximately one third of adult child deaths are anticipated, 3,4 but most studies of adult child death have focused on the postdeath period [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]14,[15][16][17][18][19][20] and have dealt with sudden, violent death, such as in war, 5,6 motor vehicle accidents, 7,8 and/or suicide. 7 Three studies addressed the aftermath of death resulting from chronic disease, [9][10][11] and two addressed the effect upon parents of having a terminally ill adolescent or adult child.…”

The Aging Of Grief: Parents' Grieving Of Israeli Soldiers

“…It seems, therefore, that time has no effect on moderating the impact of the loss. Some individuals were unable to relinquish their attachment to the loss and remained distressed much longer than expected (Edelstein, 1984;Goodman, Rubinstein, Baine, & Luborsky, 1991 ;Levav, 1989Levav, -1990Lesher & Berger, 1988;Levav, Friedlander, Kark, & Peritz, 1988 ;hIoss, Lesher, & hloss, 1984 ;Rando, 1986).…”