Continuing Bonds with the Living: Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of their Emotional Relationship with their Children
Title
Continuing Bonds with the Living: Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of their Emotional Relationship with their Children
Creator
Shankar S; Nolte L; Trickey D
Identifier
Publisher
Bereavement Care
Date
2017
Subject
Audiorecording; bereavement; Child; Emotions; Grief; Human; Interview Guides; Narratives; Only Child; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Psychosocial Factors; Qualitative Studies; Semi-Structured Interview; Siblings
Description
Abstract
The death of a child can be seen as one of the most devastating experiences for parents which can result in a unique and enduring grief. Parents with surviving children face the task of navigating their own grief while continuing to parent. This narrative inquiry explores bereaved parents’ stories of their emotional relationship with their surviving children. Parents told stories of emotional connection and disconnection with surviving children, influenced by the competing and potentially incompatible tasks of ‘parenting’ and ‘grieving’. The need for a relational focus to bereavement research and practice is highlighted. The findings demonstrate the need for clinicians to provide i) parents an opportunity to explore their sometimes contradicting and troubling experiences of grief and parenting and ii) children with support to make sense of their experiences in relation to the parent-child relationship.
The death of a child can be seen as one of the most devastating experiences for parents which can result in a unique and enduring grief. Parents with surviving children face the task of navigating their own grief while continuing to parent. This narrative inquiry explores bereaved parents’ stories of their emotional relationship with their surviving children. Parents told stories of emotional connection and disconnection with surviving children, influenced by the competing and potentially incompatible tasks of ‘parenting’ and ‘grieving’. The need for a relational focus to bereavement research and practice is highlighted. The findings demonstrate the need for clinicians to provide i) parents an opportunity to explore their sometimes contradicting and troubling experiences of grief and parenting and ii) children with support to make sense of their experiences in relation to the parent-child relationship.
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation List Month
February 2018 List
URL Address
Collection
Citation
Shankar S; Nolte L; Trickey D, “Continuing Bonds with the Living: Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of their Emotional Relationship with their Children,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 19, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/11268.