The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experience of long term grief following a perinatal loss. In particular, the processes of meaning reconstruction and self-changes stemming from perinatal loss were explored by listening to parents in-depth narratives of their experiences of loss and grief. A narrative methodology was used, based on a constructivist epistemology that suggests that people are storytellers by nature and we attempt to organize and make sense of our life experiences by constructing coherent narratives. Participants were 4 couples and 8 individuals whose losses occurred 1 to 35 years before the interview. Interviews followed a reflexive-dyadic interview model. Analysis of the narratives was approached in two ways: First, a voice-centered relational approach was used for initial interpretation and identification of prevalent voices in the stories. Second, five of the stories were written as evocative narratives, which served as a way of incorporating the authors personal experience of perinatal loss, as well as to evoke an empathic understanding of the experience of perinatal loss. The interpretation and discussion of the stories focused on meaning-making that was evident on both an individual level as well as across the larger group of participants. In particular, meaning-making influences and strategies were identified, including influences of the medical establishment and social networks which either served to disenfranchise parents losses or to comfort and ease parents in their grief. The impact of meaning-making on long-term grief was considered, as well as parents reports of positive and negative self-changes that emerged from their struggle with grief. The unique contribution of this project lies in its elaboration of the meaning reconstruction process in the context of perinatal loss; its demonstration of both positive and negative self-changes in a group of perinatally-bereaved parents; its exploration of grief several years to decades following a perinatal loss; its inclusion of the researchers self as both an additional source of data and as a validity check on the presentation and interpretation of participants stories; and the use of evocative narratives to evoke an empathic understanding of a historically disenfranchised form of loss.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-03172006-120304 |
| Date | 20 March 2006 |
| Creators | Willick, Myrna Lani |
| Contributors | Stewart, Norma J., McMullen, Linda, Lawson, Karen L., Gilbert, Kathleen, Chartier, Brian M. |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-03172006-120304/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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