An ambiguous loss describes a loss that lacks closure due to its ambiguity and uncertainty. The study applies to those who have experienced separation from the family and struggle with keeping their family members psychologically present, namely, immigrants. The study aimed to explore the phenomenology of ambiguous loss experienced by Georgian immigrants. Fifteen narratives collected via face-to-face in-depth interviews were analyzed using the deductive content analysis strategy. Participants describe feelings of loss, such as being unable to live together as a family, uncertainty about going back, stress, and worry about family members. While physically absent, the psychological family is evident in their thoughts and concerns. Family boundaries can remain clear as family members reconsider their roles and responsibilities. The main challenge is to remain resilient, which is connected to identity reconstruction.
BoccagniP. (2012). Practising motherhood at a distance: Retention and loss in Ecuadorian transnational families. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 38(2), 261–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.646421
2.
BossP. (2006). Loss, trauma, and resilience: Therapeutic work with ambiguous loss. Norton.
BossP. (2011). Loving someone who has dementia: How to find hope while coping with stress and grief. Jossey-Bass.
5.
BossP. (2016). The context and process of theory development: The story of ambiguous loss. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(3), 269–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12152
6.
BunnM.SamuelsG.Higson-SmithC. (2023). Ambiguous loss of home: Syrian refugees and the process of losing and remaking home. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 4, 100136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2023.100136
7.
ComtesseH.Lechner-MeichsnerF.HaneveldJ.VogelA.RosnerR. (2022). Prolonged grief in refugees living in Germany confronted with ambiguous or confirmed loss. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 35(3), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2021.1967936
HsiehH.-F.ShannonS. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
10.
International Centre for Migration Policy Development. (2015). The state of migration in Georgia: Report developed in the framework of the EU-funded enhancing Georgia’s migration management (ENIGMMA) project.
11.
KhechuashviliL. (2016). The relationship between the structure of the compensatory sequence of personal narratives and the post-traumatic growth on the example of internally displaced persons after the August 2008 war. GESJ: Education Science and Psychology, 3(40), 122–152.
KillikellyC.RampM.MaerckerA. (2021). Prolonged grief disorder in refugees from Syria: Qualitative analysis of culturally relevant symptoms and implications for ICD-11. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 24(1), 62–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2020.1825361
14.
KohlbacherF. (2006). The use of qualitative content analysis in case study research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.17169/FQS-7.1.75
15.
LeeR. E.WhitingJ. B. (2007). Foster children’s expressions of ambiguous loss. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 35(5), 417–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926180601057499
MitchellM. B. (2016). The family dance: Ambiguous loss, meaning making, and the psychological family in foster care. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8(3), 360–372. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12151
19.
NathansonA.RogersM. (2020). When ambiguous loss becomes ambiguous grief: Clinical work with bereaved dementia caregivers. Health & Social Work, 45(4), 268–275. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlaa026
PerezR. M.Arnold-BerkovitsI. 2018. “A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Latino Immigrant’s Ambiguous Loss of Homeland.” Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences40(2):91–114.
22.
PirtskhalavaE. (2017). The perceptions and attitudes of Georgian migrants in Portugal. Universal Journal of Psychology, 5(6), 262–271. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujp.2017.050604
23.
PirtskhalavaE. (2023). Georgian migrants in Germany: Being Georgian–ethnic identity, intragroup and intergroup relationships in immigration. Georgian Psychological Journal, 5, 41–62. https://doi.org/10.60131/gpj.5.2023.7415
24.
PirtskhalavaE.BadashviliM. (2022). Integration process of Georgian migrants living in EU and USA. Education Sciences & Psychology, 64(4), 3–15.
25.
PribilskyJ. (2004). “Aprendemos a convivir”: Conjugal relations, co-parenting, and family life among Ecuadorian transnational migrants in New York and the Ecuadorian Andes. Global Networks, 4(3), 313–334.
26.
SamuelsG. M. (2009). Ambiguous loss of home: The experience of familial (im)permanence among young adults with foster care backgrounds. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(12), 1229–1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.05.008
27.
SanchezE.PhilbinS. P.AyónC. (2021). Y el luto sigue (and the grief continues): Latinx immigrant’s experiences of ambiguous loss in the age of restrictive immigration policy. Family Relations, 70(4), 1009–1026. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12564
28.
SolheimC. A.ZaidS.BallardJ. (2016). Ambiguous loss experienced by transnational Mexican immigrant families. Family Process, 55(2), 338–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12130
TestoniI.FrancoC.PalazzoL.IaconaE.ZamperiniA.WieserM. A. (2020). The endless grief in waiting: A qualitative study of the relationship between ambiguous loss and anticipatory mourning amongst the relatives of missing persons in Italy. Behavioral Sciences, 10(7), 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10070110
32.
ZmiejewskiW.MühlfriedF. (2022). When distrust meets hope: Georgian migrant women in Greece. Central and Eastern European Migration Review, 12(1), 245–263. https://doi.org/10.54667/ceemr.2022.08
