Parenting After the Death of a Child

Buckle, Jennifer L.; Fleming, Stephen J.

doi:10.4324/9780203886137

Cited by 28 publications

(33 citation statements)

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“…Because loss associated with homicide and accidents seemed to engender greater awareness of the preciousness of life and love, professionals should be prepared to join parents in seeking affirmative lessons in the loss for what ultimately has value, while taking care not to gloss over the real struggles associated with parental bereavement, especially when parents face the demands of caring for surviving children (Buckle & Fleming, 2010). Similarly, awareness that parents of children who died by suicide often seek to reorient to life by affirming relational over material goals can prompt clinicians to embrace this as a constructive outgrowth of the crisis of meaning engendered by their child’s fatal choice (Sands, Jordan, & Neimeyer, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cause of Death and the Quest for Meaning After the Loss of a Child

et al. 2013

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This study examined patterns of making meaning among 155 parents whose children died from a variety of violent and non-violent causes. Findings indicated 53% of violent loss survivors could not make sense of their loss, as compared to 32% of non-violent loss survivors. Overall, there was overlap in sense-making strategies across different causes of death, with many parents invoking spiritual and religious meanings and the cultivation of empathy for the suffering of others. Nonetheless, violent loss survivors described the imperfection of the world and brevity of life more frequently in their narrative responses than parents who lost a child to natural causes, who in turn were more likely to find benefit in the loss in terms of personal growth. Violent loss survivors—and especially those losing a child to homicide—also reported enhanced appreciation of life more frequently than survivors of non-violent losses, and surviving a child’s suicide was specifically associated with a change in priorities in the sample. Findings are discussed in terms of common and distinctive themes in meaning making that clinicians may encounter when working with parental bereavement, and the implications these carry for finding spiritual and secular significance in a traumatic loss.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cause of Death and the Quest for Meaning After the Loss of a Child

et al. 2013

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“…131-158). These specifi c fi ndings related to the act of parenting make a signifi cant contribution to the minimal literature on bereaved parenting, as does the theory of bereaved parenting itself (Buckle & Fleming, 2011 ).…”

Section: Parenting Bereaved Childrenmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Some research was found on supporting surviving children after perinatal death from the perspective of parents (Erlandsson, Pernilla, Safl und, Wredling, & Radestad, 2010 ;Wilson, 2001 ) and on parenting after loss in the context of subsequent pregnancies (O'Leary & Warland, 2012 ). This research highlights the signifi cance of parenting when a baby dies and the importance of: open communication regarding the deceased sibling, death, dying, and grieving; recognizing a child's grief; supporting a continuing bond through, for example, play, rituals, artwork; creating a space in the family for the deceased child; and, modeling grieving and mourning for the children (Buckle & Fleming, 2011 ;Erlandsson et al, 2010 ;Wilson, 2001 ).…”

Section: Parenting Bereaved Childrenmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The theory of bereaved parenting (Buckle & Fleming, 2011 ) was generated during a grounded theory study where ten bereaved parents, fi ve mothers and fi ve fathers, were interviewed. The core category that emerged from the lived experiences of the bereaved parents was named, bereaved parenting : living the duality of devastation and regeneration .…”

Section: Parenting Bereaved Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The core category that emerged from the lived experiences of the bereaved parents was named, bereaved parenting : living the duality of devastation and regeneration . Bereaved parenting, according to Buckle and Fleming ( 2011 ), is "an active process: one continues to parent and one is continuously bereaved" (p. 37); "it is living the duality of devastation and regeneration" (p. 39). The researchers added that "this is the duality that bereaved parents and their surviving children must face; it is the duality that is a lived, daily experience between the death of one and the life of another" (p. 37).…”

Section: Parenting Bereaved Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

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