Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess, through naturalistic inquiry, the differences between and relationships among coping strategies of parents of murdered or abducted, long-term missing children, where the offender was non-familial. Multiple data sources were used to examine two areas: the perceptive differences of coping among parents of murdered children in contrast to parents of abducted, long-term missing children; and the ways in which coping strategies of parents of murdered children differ from the coping strategies of parents of abducted, long-term missing children. A single dominant theme emerged when analyzing the similarities and differences among the groups: the duration of expected coping was dependent upon the likelihood of the resolution of the ambiguity of the situation. The analysis identified that both groups suffered comparable bereavement manifestations and utilized similar coping strategies during times of ambiguous loss. The two groups mirrored each other emotionally until the time that parents of murdered children attained clarification of the ambiguous loss through outcome determination. At this point, parents of murdered children were then able to embark on the different emotional and physiological tracks toward the identifiable phases of resolution, which is grieving the loss of their child.
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