This exploratory study examines the influence of context on complicated grief. Attention is drawn to the extent to which complicated grief is influenced by the socio-environ-mental context, the family context and the personal context. Personal context is represented by the relationship of the bereaved to the deceased. An exploratory research approach is adopted. Semi-structured interviews, based on predetermined questions, were conducted with thirteen participants, ranging in age from 26 to 43 years. Being exploratory in nature, the study generated hypotheses on the influence of context on complicated grief. Potential relationships among various dimensions of context and complicated grief are indicated. Some of these include socio-economic aspects, stigma, family relationships, as well as inter and intrapersonal factors. The study highlights the need for a theory of complicated grief, which embraces contextual influences.
AuslanderG.K.RosenbergG.WeissmanA. (1997). International perspectives on social work in health care: Past, present and future.London: The Haworth Press
2.
Bar-OnD. (1999). The indescribable and the undiscussable.Budapest: Central European University Press
3.
BelzinJ.A. (2000). Religion, culture and psychopathology: Cultural-psychological reflections on religion in a case of manslaughter in the Netherlands. Pastoral Psychology, 48(6), 415–435
4.
BopapeM. (1995). The Bapedi framework of mourning and bereavement and its implications for the helping professions. Social Work, 31(3), 262–266
5.
Bowlby-WestL. (1983). The impact of death on the family system. Journal of Family Therapy, 5, 279–294
6.
BrabantS.ForsythC.McFarlainG. (1995). Life after the death of a child: Initial and long-term support from others. Omega, 31(1), 67–85
7.
BrownA.C.BrodyH.H.StonemanZ. (2000). Rural black women and depression: A contextual analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 187–198
8.
CainA.C. (2002). Children of suicide: The telling and the knowing. Psychiatry, 65(2), 124–136
9.
CleirenM. (1991). Adaptation after bereavement.Amsterdam: DSWO
10.
CookA. C.OltjenbrunsK.A. (1998). Dying and grieving: Life span and family perspectives.London: Harcourt Brace College
11.
DaneB.O. (1997). Children affected by AIDS. In PhillipsL.StrausserE. (Eds.), Children in the urban environment (pp. 3–22). Illinois: C. Thomas
12.
DavisC.G.WortmanC.B.LehmanD.R.SilverR.C. (2000). Searching for meaning in loss: Are clinical assumptions correct?. Death Studies, 24(6), 497–541
13.
DokaK.J. (1989). Disenfranchised grief. In ParkesC.M. (Ed.), Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life (pp. 199–212). London: Routledge
14.
EnnisN.E.HobfollS.E.SchröderK.E.E. (2000). Money doesn't talk, it swears: How economic stress and resistance resources impact inner-city women's depressive mood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(2), 149–173
15.
EpsteinS. (1994). Integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious. American Psychologist, 49, 701–724
16.
EzzyD.de VisserR.GrubbI.McConachyD. (1998). Employment, accomodation, finances and combination therapy: The social consequences of living with HIV/AIDS in Australia. AIDS Care, 10(2), 189–199
17.
FigleyC.R.BrideB.E.MazzaN. (1997). Death and trauma: The traumatology of grieving.Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis
18.
FineC. (1997). No time to say good-bye.New York: Doubleday
19.
ForehandR.BrodyG.H.ArmisteadL.DorseyS.MorseE.MorseP.S.StockM. (2000). The role of community risks and resources in the psychosocial adjustment of at risk children: An examination across two community contexts and two informants. Behaviour Therapy, 31, 395–414
20.
FosterD. (2000). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and understanding perpetrators. South African Journal of Psychology, 30(1), 2–9
21.
FranklV.E. (1978). The unheard cry for meaning: Psychotherapy and humanism.New York: Simon & Schuster
22.
GolsworthyR.CoyleA. (1999). Spiritual beliefs and the search for meaning among older adults following partner loss. Mortality, 4(1), 21–41
23.
HobfollS.E. (1989). Conservation of resources a new attempt at conceptualising stress. American Psychologist, 44, 513–524
24.
HorowitzM.J.SiegelB.HolenA.BonannoG.A.MilbrathC.StinsonC.H. (1997). Diagnostic criteria for complicated grief disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(1), 904–910
25.
Janoff-BulmanR. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma.New York: Free Press
26.
JordanJ.R.KrausD.R.WareE.S. (1993). Observations on loss and family development. Family Process, 32, 425–440
27.
KasiramM.I.PartabR. (2002). Grieving through culture and community: A South African perspective. Social Work, 38(1), 39–44
28.
KissaneD.W.BlochS. (1994). Family grief. British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 728–740
29.
KissaneD.W.BlochS.DoweD.L.SnyderR.D.OnghenaP.McKenzieD.P.WallaceC.S. (1996a). The Melbourne family grief study, I: Perceptions of family functioning in bereavement.American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(5), 650–658
30.
KissaneD.W.BlochS.OnghenaP.McKenzieD.P.SnyderR.D.DoweD.L. (1996b). The Melbourne family grief study, II: Psychosocial morbidity and grief in bereaved families.American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(5), 659–666
31.
KnieperA.J. (1999). The suicide survivor's grief and recovery. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour, 29(4), 353–364
32.
LehmanD.R.WortmanC.B.WilliamsA.F. (1987). Long-term effects of losing a spouse or child in a motor vehicle crash. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(1), 218–231
33.
MaerckerA.BonannoG.ZnojH.HorowitzM.J. (1998). Prediction of complicated grief by positive and negative themes in narratives. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54(8), 1117–1136
34.
MafokaneM. S. (1998). Belief systems as an obstacle to the development of rural women and the implications for social work practice. Social Work, 34(2), 230–235
35.
MarroneR. (1999). Dying, mourning, and spirituality: A psychological perspective. Death Studies, 23(6), 495–520
36.
MartinT.L.DokaK.J. (2000). Men don't cry … women do: Transcending gender stereotypes of grief.Philadelphia, USA: Brunner Mazel
37.
MasseyD.L.MinD. (2000). Theological and biblical interpretations of current movements and emerging paradigms within bereavement studies. Pastoral Psychology, 48(6), 469–486
38.
McAdooH. (1997). Black families.London: Sage
39.
McIntoshD.N.SilverR.C.WortmanC.B. (1993). Religion's role in adjustment to a negative life event: Coping with the loss of a child. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(4), 812–821
40.
MikulincerM.FlorianV.WellerA. (1993). Attachment styles, coping strategies and posttraumatic psychological distress: The impact of the gulf war in Israel. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(5), 817–826
41.
MoselhyH.El-DosokyA. (1997). Understanding grief.Psychiatry in Practice, September/October, 14–19
42.
MurphyS.A.DasGuptaA.CainK.C.JohnsonL.C.LohanJ.WuL.MekwaJ. (1999). Changes in parents' mental distress after the violent death of an adolescent or young adult child: A longitudinal prospective analysis. Death Studies, 23(2), 129–159
43.
NeimeyerR.A. (2000). Searching for the meaning of meaning: Grief therapy and the process of reconstruction. Death Studies, 24(6), 541–558
44.
OlssonM. (1997). Social support in bereavement: A study of interaction in crisis situations. In AuslanderG.K.RosenbergG.WeissmanA. (Eds.), International perspectives on social work in health care: Past, present and Future, (pp. 59–73). London: The Haworth Press
45.
OppermanB.C.D. (2004). The influence of context on complicated grief. Doctoral thesis, Rand Afrikaans University
46.
ParkesC.M. (1996). Bereavement: Studies of grief in adult life.London: Routledge
47.
PivnickA.VillegasN. (2000). Resilience and Risk: Childhood and uncertainty in the AIDS epidemic. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 24(1), 99–134
48.
PrigersonH.G.FrankE.KaslS.V.ReynoldsC.F.IIIAndersonB.ZubenkoG.S.HouckP.R.GeorgeC.J.KupferD.J. (1995). Complicated grief and bereavement related depression as distinct disorders: Preliminary empirical validations in elderly bereaved spouses. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 22–30
49.
PrigersonH.G.BierhalsA.J.KaslS.V.ReynoldsC.F.IIIShearM.K.DayN.BeeryL.C.NewsomJ.T.JacobsS. (1997). Traumatic grief as a risk factor for mental and physical morbidity. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(5), 616–623
50.
PrigersonH.G.ShearM.K.JacobsS.C.ReynoldsC.F.IIIMacIejewskiP.K.DavidsonJ.R.T.RosenheckR.PilkonisP.A.WormianC.B.WilliamsJ.B.W.WidigerT.A.FrankE.KupferD.J.ZisookS. (1999). Consensus criteria for traumatic grief: A Preliminary empirical test. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 67–73
51.
RandoT. (1993). Treatment of complicated mourning.Champaign, IL: Research Press
52.
RandoT. (1995). Grief and mourning: Accomodation to loss. In WassH.NeimeyerR. (Eds.), Dying-Facing the facts (pp. 211–241). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis
53.
RappaportJ. (2000). Community narratives: Tales of terror and joy. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(1), 1–24
54.
ReynoldsC.F.IIIMillerM.D.PasternakR.E.FrankE.PereiJ.M.ComesC.HouckP.R.MazumdarS.DewM.A.KupferD.J. (1999). Treatment of bereavement-related major depressive episodes in later life: A controlled study of acute and continuation treatment with nortriptyline and interpersonal psychotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(2), 202–208
55.
RichesG.DawsonP. (1996). Communities of feeling: The culture of bereaved parents. Mortality, 1(2), 143–162
56.
RossC.E.JangS.J. (2000). Neighbourhood disorder, fear and mistrust: The buffering role of social ties with neighbours. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 401–419
57.
RossC.E.ReynoldsJ.R.GeisK.J. (2000). The contingent meaning of neighbourhood stability for residents' psychological well-being. American Sociological Review, 65, 581–597
58.
RotterJ.C. (2000). Family grief and mourning. Family Journal, 8(3), 276–278
59.
SeguinM.LesageA.KielyM. (1995). Parental bereavement after suicide and accident: A comparative study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour, 25(A), 489–492
60.
ShapiroE. (1996). Family bereavement and cultural diversity: A social developmental perspective. Family Process, 35, 313–332
61.
SheldonF. (1998). Bereavement. British Medical Journal, 316, 456–459
62.
SteinbergL.AvenevoliS. (2000). The role of context in the development of psychopathology: A conceptual framework and some speculative propositions. Child Development, 71(1), 66–74
63.
StewartA.E. (1999). Complicated bereavement and post-traumatic stress disorder following fatal car crashes. Recommendations for death notification practices. Death Studies, 23(4), 289–321
64.
StillionJ.M. (1996). Survivors of suicide. In DokaK. J. (Ed.), Living with grief after sudden loss: Suicide, homicide, accident, heart attack, stroke (pp. 41–51). Washington, DC: Hospice Foundation of America
65.
StillionJ.M.NovielloS.B. (2001). Living and dying in different worlds: Gender differences in violent death and grief. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 9(3), 247–259
66.
TaylorV.AdelzedakA.HeywoodM.January-BardillN.KarinAbdool Q.MagadlelaD.PendryB.VilikaziZ.WhitesideA. (1999). HIV/AIDS and human development - South Africa. Southern African Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 13(1), 3–22
67.
TollesonJ. (1997). Death and transformation: The reparative power of violence in the lives of young black inner-city gang members. Studies in Social Work, 67(3), 415–431
68.
WheelerI. (2001). Parental bereavement: The crisis of meaning. Death Studies, 25(1), 51–67
69.
WildL. (2001). The psychosocial adjustment of children orphaned by AIDS. Southern African and Adolescent Mental Health, 13(1), 3–22
70.
WillmottH. (2000). Death so what? Sociology, sequestration and emancipation. The Sociological Review, 48(4), 649
71.
ZickC.D.SmithK.R. (1991). Patterns of change surrounding the death of a spouse. Journal of Gerontology, 46(6), 5310–5320
