![]() ![]() Most informants used all 3 prototypes in the process of reconstructing meaning, describing changes in the perception of themselves, the world, and society. We derived 3 prototypes of meaning from interviews of 12 bereaved mothers: the existential paradox a bifurcated worldview and oppression, mortification, and humiliation. Constructivist theories have informed understanding of grief, emphasizing the role of meaning reconstruction in adaptation to bereavement, as well as the role of social support in the process of meaning reconstruction. Homicide survivors tend to receive little or no support from society this is especially true in Israel, where homicide victims are a neglected population whose voice is socially muted. This study is the first to our knowledge to provide an in-depth account of the meanings reconstructed by bereaved Israeli mothers of homicide victims. The reconstruction of a bifurcated worldview demonstrates how the (re)construction of contradictions, rather than one coherent narrative, allows bereaved mothers to maintain their former worldview while adopting a new one, as well as to continue holding their selfperceptions while (re)building a self-identity that matches social expectations. These social processes of marginalizing covictims of homicide is not unique to Israeli society, as a similar practice had been found in studies carried out in the United States (e.g., Armour, 2002 Armour,, 2003Burke, Neimeyer, & McDevitt-Murphy, 2010 Piazza-Bonin et al., 2014). In the context of the clash between Israeli society's lack of support for grief over homicide and the bereaved mothers' individual preferences, participants were unable to find a satisfying answer to their existential questions, leaving them in what they perceived as a sense of ironic and paradoxical existence and requiring them to reconstruct meanings and view the world in a bifurcated manner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |