John Bowlby'S Model of Grief and the Problem of Identification

Abstract

John Bowlby's model of grief is found inadequate to account for phenomena which are associated with most grief. Bowlby's ethological model deals only with grief as a disequilibrium in the social environment of the bereaved, but does not account for a disequilibrium in the relationship between the bereaved and the lost object. The basis of the inadequacy is found in Bowlby's rejection of Freud's concept of identification when Bowlby resumed the trauma theory which Freud had abandoned. The work of Freud and the Freudians, especially Volkan, is examined to understand what Bowlby was rejecting. Problems in accounting for phenomena associated with identification are traced in scholars using Bowlby's model. In addition to Bowlby's own work, the work of Parkes, Raphael, and Worden is examined. Possible modifications in the Bowlby model are suggested by reviewing the work of Attig, Lopata, and Marris.