University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. / This study aims to increase understanding of the critical themes and features of suicide grief through an analysis of data drawn from the lived experience of those bereaved by suicide. The theoretical context for this study is developments in new theories of grief. Specifically, the study focused on suicide grief in the context of meaning making and the influence of suicide on the griever’s relational world. The study analysed data through the lenses of three relationship areas, the griever’s relationship with self, the griever’s ongoing relationship with the deceased, and the griever’s relationships with significant others outside and within a grief group. Using an interpretive, hermeneutic methodology to analyse participant conversations, three central organising themes were identified. The proposed tripartite working model of suicide grief to emerge outlines a process of adaptation, from engaging with meaning making issues regarding the intentional nature of suicide, to reconstruction of the death story, to repositioning the suicide and pain of the deceased’s life. The metaphors of "trying on the shoes", "walking in the shoes" and "taking off the shoes" are used to indicate the grief process in relation to each identified theme. The thesis argues that suicide grief themes provide a meaning making framework that assists integrative grief processes. Not all those bereaved by suicide will engage with these themes, and progression through themes is not a linear process. The study findings provide insight into meaning making and relational difficulties that increase vulnerability to complications in grief, suicidality and maladaptive relationship with the deceased. Study findings also reveal that shifts from maladaptive to adaptive relationship with the deceased are possible even when no rational meanings can be made. It is suggested that these issues are so prevalent in suicide grief as to be a normal part of active meaning making efforts to integrate grief. The working model may assist in identifying ongoing education, practice and research issues. Significantly, the predominance of relating with the deceased through reconstruction of the death story, and the relationship between this and increased suicidal ideation to emerge in this study requires further research to determine how and when these activities shift from effective meaning making strategies to become active suicidality.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title from title page (viewed Apr. 23, 2007) Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-52).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.

This dissertation examines the relation between emotional functioning and meaning making in bereavement. Emotional functioning (i.e., awareness, expression, and regulation of emotions) has been traditionally considered crucial in grief coping (Pennebaker, 1990; Raphael, 1983). At the same time, bereaved people who were able to find a meaning in their loss experience were found to show better adjustment and were less likely to develop grief complications than those who did not find a meaning (Davis, Wortman, Lehman, & Silver, 2000; Tolstikova, Fleming, & Chartier, 2005). The present research aimed to build a more inclusive model of grief coping by examining the interplay of emotional functioning and meaning making in grief in the same sample of people. The emotionally focused approach to human functioning developed by L. Greenberg (Greenberg, 2004) forms the theoretical foundation for the study. This approach proposes that emotional arousal, awareness, expression, and regulation provide grounds for meaning construction and eventually help to assimilate a shattering event. Following Greenbergs conceptualization (Greenberg, Auszura, & Herrmann, 2007), the first set of studies of the present dissertation examined productive and unproductive emotional functioning in grief. Three hundred and fifteen bereaved people were recruited through the online bereavement support websites to help develop and validate the Productive-Unproductive Emotional Processing in Grief questionnaire (PUG). The PUG scores were further used to predict meaning making in grief. It was shown that bereaved individuals who were engaged in productive emotional processing of grief and demonstrated good emotional regulation were more capable of making sense of their loss six months later.<p> The data for the first set of studies were collected via the Internet. While the Internet method of data collection has been previously used in grief research, its validity and reliability had not been assessed. Thus, Study 4 of the present dissertation reviewed the use of the Internet in bereavement research and examined the reliability and validity of online data collection. The demographic characteristics and grief scores of the Internet participants were compared to those completed by traditional paper-and-pencil method. The study demonstrated that the online survey results were comparable to the traditional paper-and-pencil survey method.

The Good Grief Workshop is a unique Canadian group-delivered creative arts program for children who have experienced the death of a loved one. The purpose of the present study was to acquire a detailed understanding of the program with the additional intent of identifying implications for the school context. A case study research design was used and data collected from multiple sources. The student researcher participated in two training sessions for volunteer facilitators and then participated as a facilitator in the November 2006 offering of the Good Grief Workshop in Montreal, Quebec. Six individuals were interviewed: four volunteer facilitators, two former child participants, one of whom subsequently returned as a volunteer facilitator. Results suggest that the program is exemplary and represents contemporary directions in theory and practice. Findings include a rich description of the program illustrated with photos, and eight themes identified in the interview data: (a) motivation for participating in the workshop; (b) the importance of finding and creating a safe place, (c) being open in discussing death, (d) the experience of grief as not something you get over, (e) death education in schools, (f) challenges associated with participating in the workshop, (g) the use of music as an emotional release, and (h) ideas for future directions. Findings have implications for researchers as well as for helping professionals working with children and their families.

The Good Grief Workshop is a unique Canadian group-delivered creative arts program for children who have experienced the death of a loved one. The purpose of the present study was to acquire a detailed understanding of the program with the additional intent of identifying implications for the school context. A case study research design was used and data collected from multiple sources. The student researcher participated in two training sessions for volunteer facilitators and then participated as a facilitator in the November 2006 offering of the Good Grief Workshop in Montreal, Quebec. Six individuals were interviewed: four volunteer facilitators, two former child participants, one of whom subsequently returned as a volunteer facilitator. Results suggest that the program is exemplary and represents contemporary directions in theory and practice. Findings include a rich description of the program illustrated with photos, and eight themes identified in the interview data: (a) motivation for participating in the workshop; (b) the importance of finding and creating a safe place, (c) being open in discussing death, (d) the experience of grief as not something you get over, (e) death education in schools, (f) challenges associated with participating in the workshop, (g) the use of music as an emotional release, and (h) ideas for future directions. Findings have implications for researchers as well as for helping professionals working with children and their families.

This dissertation examines the relation between emotional functioning and meaning making in bereavement. Emotional functioning (i.e., awareness, expression, and regulation of emotions) has been traditionally considered crucial in grief coping (Pennebaker, 1990; Raphael, 1983). At the same time, bereaved people who were able to find a meaning in their loss experience were found to show better adjustment and were less likely to develop grief complications than those who did not find a meaning (Davis, Wortman, Lehman, & Silver, 2000; Tolstikova, Fleming, & Chartier, 2005). The present research aimed to build a more inclusive model of grief coping by examining the interplay of emotional functioning and meaning making in grief in the same sample of people. The emotionally focused approach to human functioning developed by L. Greenberg (Greenberg, 2004) forms the theoretical foundation for the study. This approach proposes that emotional arousal, awareness, expression, and regulation provide grounds for meaning construction and eventually help to assimilate a shattering event. Following Greenbergs conceptualization (Greenberg, Auszura, & Herrmann, 2007), the first set of studies of the present dissertation examined productive and unproductive emotional functioning in grief. Three hundred and fifteen bereaved people were recruited through the online bereavement support websites to help develop and validate the Productive-Unproductive Emotional Processing in Grief questionnaire (PUG). The PUG scores were further used to predict meaning making in grief. It was shown that bereaved individuals who were engaged in productive emotional processing of grief and demonstrated good emotional regulation were more capable of making sense of their loss six months later.<p> The data for the first set of studies were collected via the Internet. While the Internet method of data collection has been previously used in grief research, its validity and reliability had not been assessed. Thus, Study 4 of the present dissertation reviewed the use of the Internet in bereavement research and examined the reliability and validity of online data collection. The demographic characteristics and grief scores of the Internet participants were compared to those completed by traditional paper-and-pencil method. The study demonstrated that the online survey results were comparable to the traditional paper-and-pencil survey method.

Thesis (MCS) -- AUT University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (vi, 43 leaves : col. ill. ; 30 cm + 1 DVD (4 3/4 in.)) in the City Campus Theses Collection (T 155.937 MCK)

Thesis (D.Min.)--Haggard School of Theology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-189).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.