Embracing their memory: The construction of accounts of loss and hope.

Harvey, John H.; Carlson, Heather R.; Huff, Tamara M.; Green, Melinda A.

doi:10.1037/10397-012

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The grief literature is rich in accounts of how the development of narrative can be helpful in coming to terms with a loss (Attig, 1996;Harvey, 1996;Harvey et al, 2001;Neimeyer, 2001), and how the narratives of grieving people are key to understanding the meaning making of the grief process (Gilbert, 2002;Nadeau, 1998). Meaning making does not occur in a vacuum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Narratives of Grieving African-Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members

Rosenblatt

Wallace

2005

Death Studies

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As part of a comprehensive interview study on African-American grief, the authors explored how racism is incorporated into narratives about a deceased family member. To the extent that experiences of racism are pervasive in African-American life and to the extent that narratives about a person who has died generally account for the life experiences, achievements, character, and challenges faced by the deceased, the authors expected narratives about a deceased African-American to deal with the person's encounters with racism. In fact, most of the 26 African-Americans who were interviewed spoke about racism in the life of the deceased. Many talked about racism blocking the deceased from getting ahead occupationally and in other ways and about how the deceased resisted or stood up to racism. Some people spoke about the ways the deceased taught them to deal with racism. The narratives that indicated that the deceased had rarely or ever talked about racism still made clear that the deceased lived in a racist world but chose not to bring racism into family conversation. The findings suggest that a view of African-American grieving that is insensitive to racism in African-American experience may lead to unhelpful grief support or counseling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Narratives of Grieving African-Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members

Rosenblatt

Wallace

2005

Death Studies

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“…Not only is writing the craft of my profession, but like many others, I've discovered that writing is one of my primary coping strategies (Harvey, 2000;Harvey, Carlson, Huff, & Green, 2001;Neimeyer & Levitt, 2001;Orbuch, 1997). I say strategy, but my experience is far from the purposeful and conscious act that term implies.…”

Section: Nature's Fury Boils Across the Seamentioning

confidence: 93%

“…The bereavement process following the death of a loved one has received intense emphasis in the literature on loss and trauma over many years (Harvey, 2000;Harvey et al, 2001;Harvey & Miller, 2000;Murray, 2001). There is also an enormous body of literature on family caregiving across the life course (Lefley, 1997).…”

Section: Nature's Fury Boils Across the Seamentioning

confidence: 98%

“Enough Already!”: Caregiving and Disaster Preparedness—Two Faces of Anticipatory Loss

Green

2006

Journal of Loss and Trauma

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This article presents a narrative account of living with repeated threats of hurricane destruction within the context of past and present caregiving responsibilities. The narrative is based on the author's experience of providing care to a daughter with cerebral palsy and to several elderly family members. Excerpts from a diary of informal conversations with friends, neighbors, and other community members during Florida's unprecedented hurricane season in 2004 are used as additional sources. The narrative highlights similarities, differences, and interactions among costs and benefits associated with various categories of anticipatory and realized loss and trauma.

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“…Scholars from a variety of disciplines argue that various forms of discursive activity facilitate coping with distress (e.g., Burleson & Goldsmith, 1998;Butler, 1975;Harvey, Carlson, Huff, & Green, 2001). In addition to traditional modes of interpersonal social support or coping assistance, the available literature identifies reminiscence, emotional verbalization, and narrative journaling as other discursive activities that might facilitate adaptive coping with serious loss.…”

Section: Adaptive Functions Of Verbalizationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Harvey et al (2001) defined accounts as "story-like constructions, or explanations, of a life event" (p. 235). In this study, accounts involved participants' efforts to explain their loss, its role in their lives, and their attempts to cope with their loss.…”

Section: Caplan Haslett Burlesonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling It Like It Is: The Adaptive Function of Narratives in Coping With Loss in Later Life

Caplan¹,

Haslett²,

Burleson³

2005

Health Communication

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As the population ages, caregivers and health care providers need more insight into how people experience old age and their attitudes and emotions about growing older. It is particularly critical to understand how communication processes change and how older adults communicate their concerns and feelings. This article proposes that some discursive activities may play a crucial role in successfully adapting to, and coping with, loss in later life. Thus, this study explored how older adults reflect on and express themselves concerning recent experiences of loss. A sample of 41 residents of 2 independent-living retirement communities wrote in journals about a recent significant loss. Participants wrote about their losses during brief lab sessions over the course of 3 consecutive days. Each set of 3 journals was content-analyzed to measure the frequency with which the participants employed emotional expression, factual recounting, account giving, religious-account giving, humor, intensifiers, and referential statements. The analysis indicates that, overall, participants shifted from a primarily factual mode (what the loss was, how the loss occurred, etc.) to more of a focus on the impact of this loss on their lives (e.g., handling new tasks and expressions of emotions) over the 3 sessions. In addition, most participants offered accounts of their losses; that is, they attempted to find some meaning in the loss and integrate the loss into an overall framework for their lives. Many of these accounts focused on religion. Final sections of the article discuss the implications of journaling as a mechanism for effective coping with loss, as a useful tool for expressing emotions, and as a means for older adults' caregivers and health care providers to better adapt their supportive messages.

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Embracing their memory: The construction of accounts of loss and hope.

Cited by 26 publications

References 3 publications

Narratives of Grieving African-Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members

Narratives of Grieving African-Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members

“Enough Already!”: Caregiving and Disaster Preparedness—Two Faces of Anticipatory Loss

Telling It Like It Is: The Adaptive Function of Narratives in Coping With Loss in Later Life

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