Abstract
This study focuses on expressed needs and structures of assistance received by Israeli parents whose children were killed in terror attacks. The loss takes place within a multi-systemic network that can be a healing force and/or a distorting factor in the grief process. The qualitative research paradigm employed privileges the knowledge of the parents themselves. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 parents. (1) The primary criterion that determines the parents’ attribution of helpfulness is perceived inclusiveness. (2) The subsystem of “family of the bereaved” is salient in the healing process. (3) There is a clear preference for the services provided by NGO’s as opposed to governmental agencies. (4) The bereaved parents engage the symbolic level of the macro-system—the heritage of the Jewish people. The article concludes with the practical implications of the findings for the development and delivery of psychosocial services to parents bereaved in terror attacks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonanno, G. A. (2009). The other side of sadness: What the new science of bereavement tells us about life after loss. New York: Basic Books.
Brewer, M. B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475–482.
Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2001). Posttraumatic growth: The positive lessons of loss. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Creswell, W. J. (1998). Research design: Qualitative & quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Currier, J. M., Holland, J. M., Coleman, R. A., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2008). Bereavement following violent death: An assault on life and meaning. Perspectives on violence and violent death. In R. G. Stevenson & G. R. Cox (Eds.), Perspectives on violence and violent death. Death, value and meaning series (pp. 177–202). Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Co.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 161–186.
Freud, S. (1917, 1963–1974). Mourning and melancholia. In J. Strachey (Ed.), Standard edition of the psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 14). London: Hogarth Press.
Gergen, K. (2000). The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. NY: Basic Books.
Hibberd, R., Elwood, L. S., & Galovski, T. E. (2010). Risk and protective factors for Posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief, and depression in survivors of the violent death of a loved one. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15(5), 426–447.
Klass, D., Silverman, P. R., & Nickman, S. L. (Eds.). (1996). Continuing bonds: Towards a new understanding of grief. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
Klein, M. (1940, 1975). Mourning and its relation to manic-depressive state. In R. Money-Kyrle (Ed.), The writings of Melanie Klein (Vol. 1). London, UK: Hogarth Press.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Lobb, E. A., Kristjanson, L. J., Aoun, S. M., Monterosso, L., Halkett, G. K. B., & Davis, A. (2010). Predictors of complicated grief: A systematic review of empirical studies. Death Studies, 34, 673–698.
MacLennen, R. N. (1993). Inter-rater reliability with SPSS for Windows 5.0. The American Statistician, 47, 292–297.
Minsky, M. (1985). The society of mind. NY: Simon and Schuster.
Murphy, S. A. (2008). The loss of a child: Sudden death and extended illness perspectives. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, H. Schut, & W. Stroebe (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research and practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Neimeyer, R. A., & Hogan, N. (2001). Quantitative or qualitative? Measurement issues in the study of grief. In M. Strobe, W. Strobe, H. Schut, & R. Hansson (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 89–118). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Parkes, C. M. (1993). Bereavement as a psychosocial transition: Processes of adaptation to change. In D. Dickenson & M. Johnson (Eds.), Death, dying, and bereavement. London: Sage Publications.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pivar, I. L., & Prigerson, H. G. (2004). Traumatic loss, complicated grief, and terrorism. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 9, 277–288.
Possick, C., Sadeh, R. A., & Shamai, M. (2008). Parents’ experience and meaning construction of losing a child in a terror attack. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78(1), 93–102.
Prigerson, H. G., & Jacobs, S. C. (2001). Traumatic grief as a distinct disorder: A rationale, consensus criteria, and a preliminary empirical test. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Rando, T. A. (1993). Treatment of complicated mourning. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
Riches, G., & Dawson, P. (1996). Communities of feeling: The culture of bereaved parents. Mortality, 1, 143–162.
Riley, L. P., Lamontagne, L., Hepworth, J. T., & Murphy, B. A. (2007). Parental grief responses and personal growth following the death of a child. Death Studies, 4, 277–299.
Rinear, E. E. (1988). Psychosocial aspects of parental response patterns to parents bereaved by homicide. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1, 305–322.
Rubin, S., & Malkinson, R. (2001). Parental response to child loss across life cycle: Clinical and research perspectives. In M. Strobe, W. Strobe, H. Schut, & R. Hansson (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 219–240). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Rubin, S., Malkinson, R., & Witztum, E. (2003). Trauma and bereavement: Conceptual and clinical issues revolving around relationships. Death Studies, 27, 1–23.
Spears, R., Jetten, J., & Scheepers, D. (2001). Distinctiveness and the definition of collective self: A tripartite model. In A. Tesser, J. V. Wood, & D. A. Stapel (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on self and identity (2nd ed.). Lexington, VA: American Psychological Association.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (2001). Risk factors in bereavement outcome: A methodological and empirical review. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Strobe, W., Zech, E., Strobe, M. S., & Abaknumkin, G. (2005). Does social support help in bereavement? Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 1030–1050.
Toller, P. W. (2008). Bereaved parents’ negotiation of identity following the death of a child. Communication Studies, 59(4), 306–321.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Re-discovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Vachon, M. L. S., & Stylianos, S. K. (1988). The role of social support in bereavement. Journal of Social Issues, 44(3), 175–190.
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching the lived experience. London: University of Ontario.
Wortman, C. B., & Silver, R. C. (2001). The myths of coping with loss revisited. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 405–430). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Possick, C., Shamai, M. & Sadeh, R.A. Healing the Social Self: How Parents Whose Children Were Killed in Terror Attacks Construct the Experience of Help. Community Ment Health J 50, 487–496 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-013-9631-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-013-9631-5