Disenfranchised Grief Following African American Homicide Loss: An Inductive Case Study
Abstract
Disenfranchised grief is experienced when a mourner’s grief response is socially invalidated, unacknowledged, or discouraged. When the circumstances of death or the emotional reactions of the griever violate social norms, empathic failures can occur within the bereaved individual’s support systems. This study used conventional content analysis, an intensive and inductive qualitative research method, to analyze the experience of one African American woman who lost her only son to homicide, a particularly distressing and marginalized form of loss. Results elucidate both the empathic failings and resiliencies within the social systems of this griever and emerged from the perspectives offered by the bereaved mother and her primary supporter. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Biographies
Elizabeth Piazza-Bonin, MS, is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Memphis and a predoctoral intern at the Denver VA Medical Center. Her research interests include psychotherapy processes in addition to grief and bereavement issues.
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Memphis, where he also maintains an active clinical practice is a has published 27 books, including Techniques of Grief Therapy, and serves as Editor of Death Studies. He is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process.
Laurie A. Burke, PhD, is a psychologist resident at Transitions Professional Center, and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Loss and Transition, in Portland, OR. Her program of research concentrates on death, dying, loss, and grief processes, including end-of-life prognostication, palliative care, complicated grief, and complicated spiritual grief.
Amanda Young, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis. Her research focuses on communication in the context of healthcare, particularly in chronic illness and end-of-life care.
Meghan E. McDevitt-Murphy, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Memphis. Her primary research interests are posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and treatment development.
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Article first published online: March 2, 2015
Issue published: March 2015
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PubMed: 26036061
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