This article reviews and critiques existing theory and research on the issue of how attitudes and fears of death are influenced by recent bereavement. While the identification and validation of distinct stages of grief has demonstrated the powerful impact of death upon survivors, other research suggests that exposure to death does not alter one's attitudes or fears. However, an examination of this literature reveals a number of critical conceptual and methodological flaws. This article attempts to discuss and evaluate these problems, and to suggest possible means of resolution and avenues for future research.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ParkesC. M., Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life, International Universities Press, New York, 1972.
2.
CattellJ. P., Psychiatric Implications in Bereavement, in Death and Bereavement, KutscherA. H. (ed.), Charles C. Thomas, Illinois, 1974.
3.
LindemannE., Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief, American Journal of Psychiatry, 101, pp. 141–148, 1944.
4.
MarrisP., Widows and Their Families, Routledge, London, 1958.
5.
ParkesC. M., Bereavement and Mental Illness, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 38, pp. 1–26, 1965.
6.
ParkesC. M., The First Year of Bereavement: A Longitudinal Study of the Reactions of London Widows to the Death of Their Husbands, Psychiatry, 33, pp. 444–467, 1970.
7.
FreudS., Mourning and Melancholia, in General Psychological Theory, MacMillan, New York, 1963.
8.
BowlbyJ., Processes of Mourning, International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 42, pp. 317–340, 1961.
9.
ParkesC. M., Effects of Bereavement on Physical and Mental Health—A Study of Medical Records of Widows, British Journal of Medicine, 2, pp. 274–279, 1964.
10.
ReesW. D.LutkinsS. G., Mortality of Bereavement, British Medical Journal, 4, pp. 13–16, 1967.
11.
RandoT. A., An Investigation of Grief and Adaptation in Parents Whose Children Have Died from Cancer, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 8, pp. 3–20, 1983.
12.
Van EerdeweghM. M.BieriM. D.ParrillaR. H.ClaytonP. J., The Bereaved Child, British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, pp. 23–29, 1982.
13.
BalkD., Effects of Sibling Death on Teenagers, Journal of School Health, 53, pp. 14–18, 1983.
14.
RosenH.CohenH. L., Children's Reactions to Sibling Loss, Clinical Social Work Journal, 9, pp. 211–219, 1981.
15.
LesterD.KamE. G., Effect of a Friend Dying Upon Attitudes Toward Death, Journal of Social Psychology, 83, pp. 149–150, 1971.
16.
DurlakJ. A., Relationship Between Various Measures of Death Concern and Fear of Death, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41, p. 162, 1973.
17.
HoelterJ. W.HoelterJ. A., On the Interrelationships Among Exposure to Death and Dying, Fear of Death, and Anxiety, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 11, pp. 241–254, 1980.
18.
DevinsG. M., Death Anxiety and Voluntary Passive Euthanasia: Influences of Proximity to Death and Experiences with Death in Important Other Persons, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, pp. 301–309, 1979.
19.
TemplerD., The Construction and Validation of a Death Anxiety Scale, Journal of General Psychology, 82, pp. 165–177, 1970.
20.
KalishR. A.ReynoldsD. K., Widows View Death: A Brief Research Note, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 5, pp. 187–192, 1974.
21.
TaylorD. A., Views of Death from Sufferers of Early Loss, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 14, pp. 77–81, 1983.
22.
DurlakJ. A., Using the Templer Scale to Assess “Death Anxiety”: A Cautionary Note, Psychological Reports, 50, pp. 1257–1258, 1982.
23.
ConteH. R.WeinerM. B.PlutchikR., Measuring Death Anxiety: Conceptual, Psychometric, and Factor-Analytic Aspects, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, pp. 775–785, 1982.
24.
KurlychekR. T., Assessment of Attitudes Toward Death and Dying: A Critical Review of Some Available Methods, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 9, pp. 37–47, 1978.
25.
LesterD., Experimental and Correlational Studies of the Fear of Death, Psychological Bulletin, 67, pp. 27–36, 1967.
26.
NagyM., The Child's View of Death, Journal of Genetic Psychology, 73, pp. 3–27, 1948.
27.
GlickI. O.WeissR. S.ParkesC. M., The First Year of Bereavement, Wiley, New York, 1974.
28.
HardtD. V., An Investigation of the Stages of Bereavement, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 9, pp. 279–285, 1978.
29.
HardtD. V., Development of an Investigatory Instrument to Measure Attitudes Toward Death, Journal of School Health, 45, pp. 96–99, 1975.
30.
TolorA.ReznikoffM., Relation Between Insight, Repression-Sensitization, Internal-External Control, and Death Anxiety, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 72, pp. 426–430, 1967.
31.
HandalP.RychlakJ., Curvilinearity Between Dream Content and Death Anxiety and the Relationship of Death Anxiety to Repression-Sensitization, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77, pp. 11–16, 1971.
32.
BlazerJ., The Relationship Between Meaning in Life and Fear of Death, Psychology, 10, pp. 33–34, 1973.
33.
NogasC.SchweitzerK.GrumetJ., An Investigation of Death Anxiety, Sense of Competence, and Need for Achievement, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 5, pp. 245–255, 1974.
34.
ClaytonP. J.DesmaraisL.WinokurG., A Study of Normal Bereavement, American Journal of Psychiatry, 125, pp. 168–178, 1968.
35.
FultonR.FultonJ., A Psychosocial Aspect of Terminal Care: Anticipatory Grief, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 2, pp. 91–99, 1971.
36.
SandersC. M., A Comparison of Adult Bereavement in the Death of a Spouse, Child, and Parent, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 10, pp. 303–322, 1979.
37.
SandersC. M., Effects of Sudden versus Chronic Illness Death on Bereavement Outcome, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 13, pp. 227–241, 1982.
38.
OwenG.FultonR.MarkusenE., Death at a Distance: A Study of Family Survivors, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 13, pp. 191–225, 1982.
39.
KoocherG. P.O'MalleyJ. E.FosterD.GoganJ. L., Death Anxiety in Normal Children and Adolescents, Psychiatria Clinica, 9, pp. 220–229, 1976.
40.
DurlakJ. A.KassR. A., Clarifying the Measurement of Death Attitudes: A Factor Analytic Evaluation of Fifteen Self-Report Death Scales, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 12, pp. 129–140, 1981.
