Browsing by Subject "Bereavement"
Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Exploring death experiences of Asian Indian international students in the United States: A descriptive phenomenological study(2006-05) Titus, Gayatri; Wampler, Karen S.; Wampler, Richard S.; Reid, Kary S.; Evans, LanceFor the fourth consecutive year, India remains the leading country of origin for international students in the United States with a total of 80,466 students presently studying in the U.S. (Institute of International Education, 2005). One of the most significant and personal challenges that may be faced by these Asian Indian international students is the death of a loved one when they are far away from home. This phenomenological study explored Asian Indian international students' experiences of losing a loved one in their country of origin while studying in the U.S. While philosophical foundations of Husserlian phenomenology were used to guide this study, Collaizi's phenomenological method was used in terms of analyzing participants' descriptions of their experiences of loss. Three in-depth interviews were conducted with each of the six Asian Indian participants and major thematic categories were identified. Eight thematic categories emerged from participants descriptions: (1) finding self in the position of an Asian Indian international student in U.S., (2) becoming bereaved, (3) debating between staying or going, (4) thinking about my loved one, (5) worrying about my other loved ones back home, (6) dealing with my loss, (7) messages from home, and (8) messages about asking for support for bereavement. In addition, themes, and sub-themes that emerged as part of these categories are also reported and discussed. Participants' descriptions offer insights into the dynamics that interplay when an Asian Indian international student in the U.S. loses a loved one in his/her home country. Results suggest that contextual factors such as financial resources, geographical distance, religion and rituals, academic commitments, and cultural contexts play important roles in the experience of bereavement. This study also situates participants' experiences within several theoretical frameworks on bereavement and offers implications for researchers, therapists, academicians, policy makers, and administrators. Finally, participants' reflections on their involvement in the study as well as the personal reflections of the researcher are presented.Item Grief and resilience: implications for bereaved college students(2009-05) Willeford, Lindsay Catherine; Sherry, Alissa Rene; Drum, David J.The current paper reviews the recent literature on grief and resilience. Specific limitations are noted, namely the lack of attention in the grief literature given to traditional-age college students. The personality characteristics and coping strategies associated with resilient grievers are discussed, followed by a review of the issues and barriers specific to grieving college students. Finally, this paper provides suggestions for how universities and college counselors can promote resilience in grieving students in order to allow for better adjustment during bereavement.Item Making sense of the senseless: my autoethnographic journey through grief(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Wells, Jamie BoyetteThe loss of a loved one is an extremely difficult experience for anyone. Grief research points to isolation and identity shifts as being two of the main problems grievers face. Autoethnography is the method through which researchers use their own experiences to draw connections with culture. This practice is useful with grief research due to the individualistic nature of the experience. The following is my autoethnographic journey through grief. This journey has allowed me to explore grief, my identity shifts, and my feelings of isolation and of guilt. This project has utilized the theoretical constructs of symbolic interaction and autoethnography as forms of inquiry into how we come to make sense of our lives. I drew heavily upon personal journals, academic papers, and old newspaper clippings as field notes in order to construct narratives dealing with the day the Texas A&M bonfire fell, Chad Powell’s death, his funeral, and my experiences with identity negotiation, isolation and guilt over the past five years.Item Making sense of the senseless: My autoethnographic journey through grief(2005-08) Wells, Jamie Boyette; Heuman, Amy N.; Hughes, Patrick C.; Williams, David E.The loss of a loved one is an extremely difficult experience for anyone. Grief research points to isolation and identity shifts as being two of the main problems grievers face. Autoethnography is the method through which researchers use their own experiences to draw connections with culture. This practice is useful with grief research due to the individualistic nature of the experience. The following is my autoethnographic journey through grief. This journey has allowed me to explore grief, my identity shifts, and my feelings of isolation and of guilt. This project has utilized the theoretical constructs of symbolic interaction and autoethnography as forms of inquiry into how we come to make sense of our lives. I drew heavily upon personal journals, academic papers, and old newspaper clippings as field notes in order to construct narratives dealing with the day the Texas A&M bonfire fell, Chad Powell’s death, his funeral, and my experiences with identity negotiation, isolation and guilt over the past five years.Item Murder, mayhem, and mourning: a qualitative study of the experiences, reactions, and coping mechanisms of homicide survivors(2010-07-14) Quisenberry, Clinton EdwardPrevious research has greatly ignored the unique stressors that homicide survivors experience following the murder of their loved one, indicating a general lack of understanding of the experiences and reactions they are subjected to or the coping mechanisms that they utilize. What little research that had been conducted has largely been made up of anecdotal insight of psychological practitioners who had worked with clients. A need exists to speak with the survivors themselves to chronicle their experiences in as much detail as possible to help researchers and practitioners wrap their mind around the totality of the loss as well as ground future research. The participants in the study consisted of twelve persons who had immediate family members who had been murdered. Participants were interviewed utilizing Lincoln & Guba?s Naturalistic Inquiry paradigm. They were initially interviewed and encouraged to discuss their loss in narrative and then were asked a series of specific questions that may or may not have been discussed during the narrative. The collected data was analyzed utilizing the constant comparison methodology. Results indicate that many homicide survivors feel overwhelmed by the changes that occur in the short and long term. None of the participants reported positive experiences interacting with mental health practitioners but virtually everyone endorsed peer-group support. There was also evidence that participants whose loved one was murdered by a person of an ethnicity that differed from their own resulted in racist feelings towards the other ethnicity. Further, there was no evidence that the process of interviewing homicide survivors was in and of itself negatively perceived or harmful; rather some participants reported feeling relieved that they were able to discuss their loss in totality without having to edit themselves. Results suggest that homicide survivors may spend an unusual amount of time reflecting on the person that their loved one may have become had they not been murdered. Suggestions also include how to best notify and support homicide survivors and how practitioners may best relate with their clients.Item Older adult bereavement: a comparison of bereaved parents and spouses(Texas Tech University, 1993-12) Henderson, B. JanetteeThe Double ABCX Model of Family Adaptation was used to study the grief experience of older adults who had suffered the loss of an adult child (Group 1) or spouse (Group 2). As hypothesized, results indicated a poorer health status outcome and a higher grief intensity level for Group 1 in omparison to Group 2. Contrary to expectations. Group 1 revealed lower depression and social withdrawal scores compared to Group 2. In addition, bereaved parents with a low number of network sources of support were compared with bereaved parents with a high number of network sources of support. As predicted, parents with a high number of sources of support reported less social withdrawal, significantly less depression, and a significantly better health outcome. Hypothesis 4, which predicted a lower grief intensity level for parents with a high number of support sources, was not supported. Implications for future research are also discussed.Item Preparing for the untimely death of a family member: a qualitative study of the role of hospice service in partner-caregiver bereavement(Texas Tech University, 1999-05) Springer, Nicole P.The purpose of this study was to identify the elements of hospice services that contribute to partner-caregiver bereavement of young widows/widowers. This research addressed partner-caregivers' perceptions of and meaning derived from their experiences with hospice professionals leading up to and following the death of their partner. Partner-caregivers of terminally ill hospice patients who died approximately eight months prior to the study were interviewed about the role of hospice services in terms of their grief process/experience. Ten partner-caregivers (with children living in the home ages 19 or younger) volunteered to participate in the interview process. Each audiotaped interview was transcribed. The interview data analyses indicated that the participants were not fully aware of the scope of services provided by hospice and reported that they wished they had been on service sooner. Some of the participants described the hospice professionals as "like family." Participants highlighted the timeliness of service and availability of the hospice professionals, described the attitude of hospice professionals as genuinely caring, and reported that hospice professionals demonstrated through their actions that "it wasn't just a job." Participants shared feedback about what things would have enhanced their experience with hospice. Despite less helpful interactions reported by some participants (e.g., hospice staff were too direct/not direct enough about informing them of the nearness to death), a majority of participants stated they could not have survived their partner's death without hospice and that they would recommend hospice to others. Recommendations for further research directions on the role of hospice service in partner-caregiver bereavement are provided.Item The grief process for surviving spouses of police officers killed in the line of duty and the responsibility of the agency(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2011) Fite, Eno U.Item Understanding children’s grief : an overview for counselors(2011-05) Swope, Jessica Leigh; Tharinger, Deborah J.; Jervey, Allyson M.The current report reviews the literature on grief manifestations in children. Definitions of grief terminology and current models of adult grief are covered to give the reader a foundational knowledge on grief. Unique manifestations of grief, developmental needs, and tasks for reconciliation with children are explored. Finally, a sampling of current interventions used with bereaved children is included.