Anger and the Desire for Retribution among Bereaved Parents

Abstract

The process of adapting to the death of one's child includes behaviors and emotions that are powerful and frequently misunderstood by nonprofessionals. Anger and the assignment of blame are natural and typical responses to any death, but they are often considered socially unacceptable responses as well. This study examines the determinants of bereaved parents' feelings of anger toward their deceased child and the desire to punish someone for the death of the child. The impact of parents' anger and retribution on depression is also explored. Logit results based oh seventy-eight bereaved parents' responses to a questionnaire show that the suddenness of the death contributes to the likelihood a parent will feel anger while anticipatory socialization to death or the recency of the death decrease the odds of feeling anger toward the child. Mothers are more likely to feel anger toward the deceased child and less likely to feel a desire to retribute than fathers. All variables in the model (anticipatory socialization, suddenness of the death and recency of the death) decrease the likelihood that parents will feel a desire to punish someone for the death of their child. Multiple regression results show that both anger toward the child for dying and the desire to retribute have no significant effects on depression levels of bereaved parents.