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Families Making Sense of Death
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Families Making Sense of Death


Volume: 10

September 1997 | 304 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Grief can be an isolating experience. When a family member dies the loss goes beyond individual grief. Its concentric circles encompass all the living members of a family, and even alter interactions within that family. In Families Making Sense of Death, Janice Winchester Nadeau explores the healing process within the family context. Through interviews and analysis, she takes a look at the dynamics at work in families in which a member has died. With a keen sense of empathy, the author shares stories that show how, gradually, families come to terms with their grief and make sense of death, as time goes by. This "family meaning-making" is not a linear process. It is alternately stimulated and inhibited within a family. Nadeau draws conclusions from her research about which particular social factors and conditions play a role in the overall outcome. She succeeds in showing not only how different families cope with death within the family, but also how skillful and sensitive field research is done.

 
Meaning-Making as a Family Process
 
Past Attempts to Understand Family Meaning-Making
 
Capturing Family Meaning-Making
 
Patterns of Meaning-Making
 
Stories, Dreams, Comparing and Coincidencing
 
Characterization and Family Speak
 
Negative and Ultimate Meanings
 
Meanings about Death and Family Change
 
Looking into the Future

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Paperback
ISBN: 9780761902669
$142.00