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A cultural belief held that young children lack the ability to experience grief, based on the assumption that children have not yet developed to understand, or to be emotionally affected, by the concept of death. 'Disenfranchised grief', a term first coined in 1989, refers to grief that escapes notice due to emotions not finding expressive outlets. Disenfranchised grief afflicts young children in particular. The aim of this study was to provide guidelines and identify support structures that teachers can use to help a child that is experiencing grief in the Foundation Phase classroom due to loss of a parent, sibling or grandparent. Multiple case studies were utilised to investigate children's experiences with disenfranchised grief within different contexts, and existing support systems for children who suffered the loss of a loved family member. Three Grade 3 learners experiencing grief were purposively selected from a state school to participate in semi-structured individual interviews, drawings activities and verbal narratives. Three themes emerged from the data: experiences of grief, emotional experience and support. The findings indicate that children do experience grief, but need support in giving expression to their emotions, and to process their losses. Recommendation is made to teacher-training institutions to incorporate counselling as part of their teacher-training curriculum. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Yes / Death, bereavement, and grief are experiences suffused with conflict and disenfranchisement. Intricately connected is ‘etiquette’ – the sense of ‘should’ ‘must’ ‘right’ ‘wrong’ ‘appropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’ individuals feel in death and bereavement situations. This paper is the first of two answering the question, ‘where does etiquette arise in death and bereavement situations and what does this ‘look like?’’ The theme The etiquette of communication and conversation is described, highlighting the importance of early communication for resolving conflict, what is considered ‘appropriate’ communication and support, and the social values underpinning these. Data highlighted how the CBT concept of ‘shoulding and musting’ manifests in death and bereavement situations, gave insight into etiquette’s role in disenfranchising grief through shaping conversations, and offered suggestions for bereavement support. Though the term ‘etiquette’ may be misleading out of context, the concept resonated with the bereaved community and provided language to discuss the nuances of their experiences. / Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Grief is a universal reaction to loss. Losses are often associated to the death of a loved one, however, they may also originate from the end of an intimate partner relationship. Whereas studies have focused on grief after a divorce or on symptomology students endure after a death, this article attends to the understudied college student experience of grief following a breakup. Within emerging adulthood, the loss of a close romantic relationship may be challenging to navigate alongside the daily stressors of college. Stigmatization by means of social cues convey sentiments, such as the need to get over an ex-partner, which in turn can lead to disenfranchised grief where individuals do not feel heard, accepted, or valid in their experience of grief. It was hypothesized that as endorsed closeness of the past relationship increases so does grief intensity, and that as feelings of stigmatization increase also increases grief intensity. Multiple regression models supported the main effects, although the interaction effect between levels of closeness and perceived stigmatization was not supported. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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This study explores the experiences of people who have lost loved ones due to socially stigmatized deaths. Drawing from eight individual interviews, the author argues that the stigma associated with death due to drug overdose, suicide, substance abuse, or murder can cause traumatic or prolonged grief and can complicate the way the bereaved talk about grief as a part of their healing process. With the mortality rate in the U.S. rising, there is an epidemic of disenfranchised grief affecting millions of bereaved individuals. Using Coordinated Management of Meaning and Communication Privacy Management theories, the author uncovers strategies the traumatically bereaved employ to manage interactions and relationships with others. A qualitative analysis of participant interviews revealed that social stigma, whether experienced or anticipated, affects the way the bereaved communicate and can cause self-silencing. Findings indicate a need for safe, supportive, and non-judgmental spaces for the traumatically bereaved to share their stories.

African American men have been incarcerated at unprecedented rates in the United States over the past 30 years. This study explored how African American females experience adverse psychosocial responses to separation from an incarcerated mate. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory (GT) study was to construct a theory to explain their responses to separation and loss. Given the paucity of literature on this topic, helping professionals may not understand this problem or know how to support these women. Disenfranchised grief and the dual process model of bereavement were used as a theoretical lens for this study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 African American women over the age of 18, from the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, and who had incarcerated mates. Systematic data analysis revealed that women in the sample experienced grief similar to losing a loved one through death. They also were found to engage in prolonged states of social isolation, emulating their mate's state of incarceration. As a result of this study, a grounded theory of symbolic imprisonment, grief, and coping (SIG-C) was developed to answer this study's research questions and explain how loss occurs on psychological, social, symbolic, and physical levels. The findings from this study may promote positive social change by informing the human services research community of SIG-C and assisting helping professionals with a basis for context-specific support for affected women to contribute to their well-being during their mate's incarceration.

In Ontario, 1% of women who give birth have their newborn infant apprehended by child protection agencies (~200/year). Hospital-based perinatal nurses are in a unique position to support mothers. However, there is a lack of research examining mothers’ experiences of newborn infant apprehension. The purpose of this study was to explore mothers’ experiences with nurses and other providers when newborn infant apprehension occurs. Doka’s Disenfranchised Grief Framework was used as a lens to help guide the research questions, methods and analysis. Thorne’s Interpretive Descriptive approach was employed. Mothers who had experienced newborn infant apprehension in the last 10 years were recruited from an agency in Ontario. Nine individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted. When analyzing the data, the researchers identified patterns and themes from among the mothers’ varied experiences. The analysis resulted in four themes: Not good enough, I am a mother, I have rights, I live everyday like I’m grieving, and Hope in the face of adversity. The findings illuminated the imbalance of power that mothers face when experiencing newborn infant apprehension, where power and authority rest with health and social service providers. This research study will focus on the findings describing what mothers want - for nurses to be open-minded, non-judgmental, to teach mothers regarding cycles of violence, and to advocate for mothers’ rights. Ultimately, the mothers posited that nurses are well positioned to empower mothers, thereby giving them the opportunity to begin recovery. The findings indicate a need for nurses to provide safe, compassionate, competent, ethical care and inform how perinatal nurses can better support mothers experiencing newborn infant apprehension.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) defines heartbreak as “crushing grief, anguish or distress.” Heartbreak can lead to biological, psychological and social responses and consequences. Heartbreak from the dissolution of a romantic relationship is a form of disenfranchised grief, which is defined as the griever’s belief that society does not recognize their source of grief as legitimate (Doka, 1989). The literature shows that talking about grief helps those who experience it (Fisher & Archer, 2008). Hence, the present study sought to provide a consensus of the best practices that marriage and family therapists have utilized to help broken-hearted clients. I employed a modification of the Delphi technique, a research method which seeks to reach consensus on a topic through group communication between experts in the subject area discussed (Hsu & Sandford, 2007) in order to gather data about best practices from marriage and family therapists on how they have helped their broken-hearted clients. This study consisted of a total of 20 experts, who are licensed marriage and family therapists. The findings suggest that the disenfranchisement of the grief resulting from the dissolution of a romantic relationship is closely associated with the symptom of sadness experienced by the broken-hearted. In addition, the way in which MFTs can help the disenfranchised griever is by providing an empathic presence in sessions, generating historical conversations through the use of a genogram, involving family members in the therapeutic process and having future oriented conversations. The results of this study have illustrated a plethora of techniques and best practices that have reportedly proven successful in helping the broken-hearted client.