This thesis argues that Christian bereavement care needs to proceed from a solid biblical foundation in determining the goal (receiving comfort from God), model (by focusing on communion with God), and method of care (through narrative and relationship) to guard against secular influences and to bring soul-satisfying comfort to the bereaved. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis. Chapter 2 critically evaluates contemporary bereavement care approaches. Chapter 3 explores the human experience of grief by examining autobiographical narratives and God’s account of the origin of grief in the Genesis narrative. Chapter 4 develops the argument for a theocentric and Christocentric approach. A proposed bereavement care framework is derived from the way Jesus relates to the bereaved and God. Chapter 5 offers practical guidelines on caring for the bereaved using eight relational steps. Chapter 6 concludes by drawing together the arguments to demonstrate how employing narrative in Christian bereavement care effectively connects the bereaved with the heart of God.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-11-14T14:42:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Natasha Torlay Parente.pdf: 3461866 bytes, checksum: ea2597f6af5a9ae0fbd7b4976fdd3cde (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-14T14:42:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Natasha Torlay Parente.pdf: 3461866 bytes, checksum: ea2597f6af5a9ae0fbd7b4976fdd3cde (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-10 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study sought to verify the influence of spiritual/religious coping (SRC) on the quality of life of a father and/or mother who has lost a child by external causes. It is a cross-sectional, quantitative and qualitative study. Participants were invited to collaborate voluntarily and after agreeing, they answered the questionnaires Spiritual Religious Coping Scale Brief (SRCOPE brief Scale), WHOQOL Spirituality Religiousness and Personal Beliefs, and the Duke Religious Index, DUREL. The population was composed by forty participants, constituted equally by twenty mothers and twenty fathers, who lost the child by external causes, with more than three months of time of the loss. The cause of death by homicide, represents 67.5%, traffic accident composes 15%, tragedy of Kiss Nightclub constitutes 12.5%, suicide evidences 2.45%, as well as and 2.45% for lost bullet. Fathers and mothers present high frequency of IR, as well as RO and RNO. Fathers and mothers aged 29 to 44 years have a higher religiosity than those aged over 44 years. Fathers manifest a higher Positive SRC (PSRC) Offer of Help (p = 0.0001), Positive attitude towards God (p = 0.0005) and lower Negative SRC (NSRC) (p = 0.007) than mothers. No correlation was found between quality of life, religious frequency and SRC. The qualitative results revealed that mothers have greater difficulty in dealing with loss, according to Stroebe and Shut (1999; 2001), Rando (1997), Schatz (1997); There was a marked presence of illusions related to the departed child, considered expressions of continuous bonds. The positive SRC (PSRC) was highlighted in the narrative of fathers and mothers, used as a resource to serve others, through volunteering and/or building prosocial institutions, to be beneficial for well-being as well as in the construction of meaning and in the search for purpose in life / Este estudo buscou verificar a influência do coping religioso-espiritual (CRE) na qualidade de vida de um pai e/ou de uma mãe que perderam um filho por causas externas. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, quantitativo e qualitativo. Os participantes deste estudo foram convidados a colaborar voluntariamente e, após concordarem, responderam aos questionários: Escala de Coping Religioso-Espiritual Abreviada (Escala CRE-abreviada), WHOQOL Spirituality Religiousness and Personal Beliefs e a Escala de Religiosidade de Duke (DUREL). A população foi composta por 40 participantes, constituída igualitariamente por vinte mães e vinte pais, que perderam o filho por causas externas, com mais de três meses de tempo da perda. A morte por homicídio representa 67,5%, por acidente de trânsito compõe 15%, na tragédia da Boate Kiss constitui 12,5%, por suicídio evidencia 2,45% e, por bala perdida, 2,45%. Pais e mães, apresentam alta frequência de RI, assim como de RO e RNO. Pais e mães de 29 a 44 anos têm maior religiosidade do que aqueles com idade superior a 44 anos. Os pais evidenciaram maior CRE Positivo (CREP) de Oferta de Ajuda (p=0,0001), Posição Positiva Frente a Deus (p=0,0005) e menor CRE Negativo (CREN) (p=0,007) do que as mães. Não foi encontrada correlação entre qualidade de vida, religiosidade e CRE. Os resultados qualitativos revelaram que mães tem maior dificuldade em lidar com a perda, conforme apontam Stroebe e Shut (1999; 2001), Rando (1997), Schatz (1997); houve uma acentuada presença de ilusões relacionadas à criança que partiu, consideradas expressões de vínculos contínuos. O CRE Positivo (CREP) se destacou nos relatos de pais e mães, utilizado como recurso para servir ao outro por meio de voluntariado e/ou na formação de instituições pró-sociais, evidenciando benefícios para o bem-estar, assim como na construção de significado e busca de sentido da vida

Nobody has a safeguard against loss. All people experience loss and the accompanying grief process during their lifetime. Grieving is a complex process. There are many different forms of grief. The grief process is understood in this study as identifiable moments rather than successive stages. The moments of grief are experienced on an unconscious level and vary in intensity. The role of the counsellor is to facilitate the process of bringing the experiences of grief into the conscious. This provides the counselee with the opportunity to work through his or her experience of loss. The contention of this study is that an existential experience of God’s presence can counteract the despair often associated with loss and the grief process. A method of story telling is used to bring hopeless stories into the empathic presence of God. Hope then becomes possible. A person’s experience of God is articulated by means of metaphors. Some of these are shared with the faith community as a whole, whereas other metaphors express the person’s individual experience of God. The different God images function in relation to one another. This study investigates how images of God can be harmful or helpful to the counselee in the grief process. The use of imagery assists in bringing the person’s perceptions of God to conscious awareness. By means of questions asked from a not-knowing position the counsellor helps to facilitate the telling of their story of grief, the story of God’s presence, and eventually their new story of hope for the future. The counselee experiences consolation, healing, liberation and a victory which becomes an existential reality in God’s presence. This pneumatic event is understood as God’s deliverance through Jesus Christ from a situation of hopelessness. This liberation takes place here-and-now. At the same time it is open toward the future. / Thesis (PhD (Practical Theology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Death is one of the few certainties in life. It comes to all of us, but the way in which we deal with it will vary according to a range of social and cultural factors. Based on my mother's experiences since being widowed, this dissertation has undertaken a qualitative research method to examine how Hindu widows express their mourning in their context, thereby defining their experiences of widowhood. The aim of this dissertation is to give voice to the mourning experiences of Hindu widows. By examining these constructions of mourning experiences, one is able to gain an understanding of grief from a cultural perspective, which may serve as a guide for professional counsellors and academics in their endeavours to provide much needed support and understanding for bereaved Hindu women. The epistemological framework is social constructionism. In this study five Hindu widows were interviewed with the intention of providing readers and fellow researchers with insight into their narratives, and the data was hermeneutically analysed. The participants' stories were interpreted and categorised into themes. This study allowed for elaborate and detailed descriptions about Hindu widows' experiences to surface, with the view that this study will broaden the way Hindu widowhood is thought of. Analyses reveals that within patriarchal society, Hindu widows appear inadequately prepared for their widowhood. As a result they experience financial, emotional and psychological difficulties, which make adjusting to widowhood a challenge. The perspective this study hopes to argue for is broader, inclusive, collaborative engagement and thinking in respect of Indian widowhood / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Death is one of the few certainties in life. It comes to all of us, but the way in which we deal with it will vary according to a range of social and cultural factors. Based on my mother's experiences since being widowed, this dissertation has undertaken a qualitative research method to examine how Hindu widows express their mourning in their context, thereby defining their experiences of widowhood. The aim of this dissertation is to give voice to the mourning experiences of Hindu widows. By examining these constructions of mourning experiences, one is able to gain an understanding of grief from a cultural perspective, which may serve as a guide for professional counsellors and academics in their endeavours to provide much needed support and understanding for bereaved Hindu women. The epistemological framework is social constructionism. In this study five Hindu widows were interviewed with the intention of providing readers and fellow researchers with insight into their narratives, and the data was hermeneutically analysed. The participants' stories were interpreted and categorised into themes. This study allowed for elaborate and detailed descriptions about Hindu widows' experiences to surface, with the view that this study will broaden the way Hindu widowhood is thought of. Analyses reveals that within patriarchal society, Hindu widows appear inadequately prepared for their widowhood. As a result they experience financial, emotional and psychological difficulties, which make adjusting to widowhood a challenge. The perspective this study hopes to argue for is broader, inclusive, collaborative engagement and thinking in respect of Indian widowhood / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

In South Africa the death of a significant caregiver is a haunting possibility. Violence, crime, road accidents, HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes and substance abuse are household words that describe some of the causes of "untimely deaths" of parents who still have young, school-going children. These children carry their bereavement with them to school. The challenge of standing with them lies not only with their caregivers, but also with staff and children in our school community. In co-authoring conversations with children in our school who have experienced bereavement and loss, this qualitative study used research as co-search to uncover children's preferred knowledges and spiritualities about coping, hope, care and communities of concern. This study used therapy-as-research and participatory action research-as-therapy in what developed into a network of caring communities for the participants, caregivers and therapist. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

This qualitative study focuses on the stories of a bereaved couple living with the death of two of their children. The effect of the children's death on the parents is explored, as well as the way in which the parents live with the death of their two sons. The stories of the bereaved couple show their courage and resilience in continuing with their lives, maintaining their bond with their deceased sons and trying to make meaning of their death. As a study in practical theology and pastoral care one aim of this study was to help transform the lives of the parents for the better. In one of the chapters of the research report a study of some literature on bereavement and the death of children is presented. Dominant cultural discourses about death, bereavement, grief and mourning are discussed, as well as voices protesting against these discourses. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

This qualitative study focuses on the stories of a bereaved couple living with the death of two of their children. The effect of the children's death on the parents is explored, as well as the way in which the parents live with the death of their two sons. The stories of the bereaved couple show their courage and resilience in continuing with their lives, maintaining their bond with their deceased sons and trying to make meaning of their death. As a study in practical theology and pastoral care one aim of this study was to help transform the lives of the parents for the better. In one of the chapters of the research report a study of some literature on bereavement and the death of children is presented. Dominant cultural discourses about death, bereavement, grief and mourning are discussed, as well as voices protesting against these discourses. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

In South Africa the death of a significant caregiver is a haunting possibility. Violence, crime, road accidents, HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes and substance abuse are household words that describe some of the causes of "untimely deaths" of parents who still have young, school-going children. These children carry their bereavement with them to school. The challenge of standing with them lies not only with their caregivers, but also with staff and children in our school community. In co-authoring conversations with children in our school who have experienced bereavement and loss, this qualitative study used research as co-search to uncover children's preferred knowledges and spiritualities about coping, hope, care and communities of concern. This study used therapy-as-research and participatory action research-as-therapy in what developed into a network of caring communities for the participants, caregivers and therapist. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)