Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2001

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Charles L. Thompson

Committee Members

Gary Klukken, John Malone, Craig Wrisberg

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to identify and outline the thematic structure of the experience of grief for bereaved individuals.Nine bereaved individuals participated in phenomenological interviews.During these interviews, participants were asked to "Tell me about your experience of grief after the death of a loved one." The participants had diverse experience on variables such as length of time since the death, typeof death, and relationship to the deceased.(Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using phenomenological methods. The protocols (i.e., transcribed interviews)were analyzed by the researcher and a phenomenological research group inorder to identify the thematic structure. During the thematization process,each protocol was read and reread in order to get an overall sense of them.Each protocol was analyzed separately during the initial steps of the analysis. Individual protocols were divided into significant statements or meaning units. These meaning units were then grouped together to form clusters. The most prominent themes from each protocol were identified. At this point, all protocols were combined for analysis. From the combination of all nine protocols, five themes emerged. The themes were 1) Coping, 2)Affect, 3) Change, 4) Details, and 5) Relationship.VIEach of the five themes is composed of various aspects or components. Coping relates to what participants did to deal with their loss,primarily what was helpful to them. They talked about behaviors, attitudes,and types of social support were helpful to them as well as those that were helpful to them. Affect, the second theme, refers to the participants' reactions to the death of a loved one, particularly their emotional response.While describing their emotional responses, participants identified certain triggers for these emotions and talked about how the deceased's quality of life influenced their feelings about the death. The theme of Change consists of ways in which participants changed as a result of their loss. They noted changes in perspective, behaviors, values, and in relationships. Personalgrowth was a significant aspect of this theme. The Details theme is composed of descriptions of what happened related to the death of loved ones. For some participants, this included details of the illness or deterioration of their loved ones. Other components of this theme were getting the news about a death or illness, knowing the death was near, and describing the time near the end. Finally, the Relationship theme is characterized by descriptions of who the deceased individual was and what the participants' relationship with them was like. This theme included descriptions of the personality of the deceased individual and certain memories related to the deceased individual.VllThese findings, are discussed in relation to the literature on grief and bereavement. New findings are also discussed. Finally, the implications for individuals and professionals dealing with bereavement issues are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

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