Disenfranchized Grief Case Study

Society and culture have created scripts (i.e., social norms) that dictate the ways in which we are to grieve. These scripts also prescribe the unique ways in which men and women are expected to respond to grief. Specifically, men’s grief scripts suggest that men will resolve to grieve in solitude as a demonstration of their self-reliance. Men may also have muted emotional response and expressed emotions are typically in the form of anger or guilt (Martin & Doka, 2011). Comparatively, women’s grief scripts suggest that women are more emotive and seek support from others to help cope with loss (Martin & Doka, 2011).

This paper examines the implications of grief, bereavement and disenfranchised grief. Grief in response to a loss is a unique experience and is expressed distinctively by every individual. It is helpful to have models that outline the stages of grief that need to be experienced in order to achieve acceptance. However, their utility is limited by the reality that grief is immeasurably complex and individualized. Veterans and children are two groups at risk of developing disenfranchised grief. Therefore, it will be important for nurses to be able to identify those suffering with disenfranchised grief or other forms of maladaptive grief so appropriate intervention may be employed.

Disenfranchised grief pretty much comes down to grief that is unacceptable to others. Some examples for this type of grieving can be things like loss from a miscarriage, infertility, or even when giving a child for adoption. Other disenfranchised types of grief can be when someone you loved dies from committing suicide, drug overdose, or from a sexually transmitted disease. There is also loss from a fail marriage, death of a same-sex partner or even experiencing the death of a partner in which an extramarital affair was involved.

Death is a universally experienced phenomenon. In the United States alone, over 2.6 million people die each year (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). For practitioners, it is of utmost importance to better understand the process of grief to develop better interventions for bereaved individuals.

This project is a learning stretch for me because I have never been on the other side of the group grief counseling. I have only been the one who is seeking counseling not the one giving it. It is a big learning stretch for me to take my experience with loss and turn it around into something good for the kids in the community who have lost someone. In the beginning of my project I had the opportunity to attend a grief counseling volunteer class which helped me learn the do’s and don’ts of counseling. This helped me learn how to help the children and I can later apply this learning for my future career.

The Cokesbury United Methodist Church grief support group follows a thirteen-week curriculum from GriefShare, however, new members can join in at any time as each week has a “self-contained” lesson. The topic for the week I attendee focused on the “why” of losing a loved one. Through following this curriculum, the group seeks to equip members with “essentials to recover from the hurt of grief and loss.” (GriefShare, n.d.) The group focuses on helping members rebuild their lives after they experience tremendous loss and grief through facing the challenge together. (GriefShare, n.d.)

Arriving on the scene we saw several sheriffs, deputies and officers on scene, hiding behind cars, windows and even standing in the doorway of the building. As they shouted to the 60-year-old man to put the gun down, I guess he responded with threats and just seconds later, the world stood still as multiple shots were fired as he went down.

This story is very sad but common throughout the world. There are many elements that contribute to Martha’s disenfranchised grief. For off there is no kin- based relationship that Martha has with her father. She felt the disconnection, when her parents divorced and he was emotionally distant from her. In the reading of Ambiguous Loss and Disenfranchised Grief, cases of divorce and abandonment from family can lead to an ambiguous grief.

In the documentary “Voices of the Grief” is a story behind the chapter “ Rosemary Lawler” where the dispute happened between Catholic and Protestant in Northern Ireland. Brendan Hughes, a member of the Republican movement, was a mastermind of some of the violence act of the Troubles and David Ervine, an important political figure from the Loyalist paramilitaries were interviewed in the documentary as the main characters. At first, I thought this documentary could bring a much better understanding but it turned the other way around. Like any other people would mention in his or her difficulty paper, the accent that were used by the interviewees seemed to be aliened to me as I am a Malaysian student who only can understand some of English accents.

“Ordinary people” everywhere are faced day after day with the ever so common tragedy of losing a loved one. As we all know death is inevitable. We live with this harsh reality in the back of our mind’s eye. Only when we are shoved in the depths of despair can we truly understand the multitude of emotions brought forth. Although people may try to be empathetic, no one can truly grasp the rawness felt inside of a shattered heart until death has knocked at their door. We live in an environment where death is invisible and denied, yet we have become desensitized to it. These inconsistencies appear in the extent to which families are personally affected by death—whether they

Black Americans can have different emotions from crying to being silent. People usually gather in large gatherings to pay respect. Black Americans have a belief that death is God’s will and the deceased is in God’s hand and will be reunited

After attending Barbara King’s lecture on animal mourning I feel that I am much more informed on the topic. She used many different species to present the argument for the fact that animals do grieve. Some animals included were giraffes, crows, and gorillas. During the lecture we were also told to be careful of anthropomorphism, which is projecting our humanity onto animals. We also discussed why we think that emotions are for humans only. Complex emotions were also discussed and much focus was put on mothers mourning the deaths of their children.

I agree with your statement that disenfranchised losses are the most difficult for a client(s) to deal with because of its unrecognizable. With any loss, a person must accept the loss, be granted proper grieving time, and support by family/friends. Society should not determine anyone’s grieving process. The lack of the significant assists can result in negative outcomes that will have detrimental psychological effects. These effects can result in a person committing suicide or becoming addicted/abusing drugs and alcohol. The loss of a pet is the disenfranchised view I would like to use as an example. In societal view, pets are only perceived as animals; however, for a couples that deal with infertility or those who have experienced a miscarriage,

It is common in our grief journeys to experience the many highs and lows that losing our beloved companion can bring us. This rollercoaster of emotions can exhaust us, overwhelm us and become too painful at times. We become stuck or ambivalent in our grief because of how unsettling these emotions can make us feel. However, many still want to be heard and supported. Many attempt to reach out in one way or another; getting contact information for a therapist or RSVPing to a support group, all of which to find themselves never calling or attending. As a result we feel guilt or remorse for not following though and the cycle repeats.

The pet grief industry has grown largely in the last decade supporting pet owners after the passing of their companions, as the expectations for how owners should handle this heartbreaking situation have greatly changed. Companies in this industry provide a multitude of services in order to alleviate some of the pain during this transition of losing a pet. For example, companies offer services such as individual cremations, which can sometimes be viewed by the family, along with a certificate to ensure that your pet will not come in contact with other deceased pets. Because pets are members of families, the pet industry believes that pets should continue to be treated in this way after passing; therefor the family should deal with the pets’