tual outcome can vary from complete hopelessness leading to sickness and even death to the adoption of a new life and reabsorption into society at a meaningful and significant level.
In the final section of the chapter, Sanders discusses the issues of "denial of grief," and the stigma associated with bereavement. Concerning denial, it is noted that because of the intense pain, this reaction is not surprising and that in addition, there are often sociocultural barriers that make it difficult for a person to allow the pain to flow in an uninhibited way.
Regarding the stigma of bereavement, there is a tendency for some people feeling bereavement to cast the experience as one in which God is somehow punishing them. Thus, in addition to the pain associated with loss, there can be intense feelings of shame, guilt, and even hostility. These feelings must be expressed and dealt with.
Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundations: The Evolution
In this chapter of the study, Sanders reviews several theoretical accounts of grief and bereavement. These theories of grief and bereavement can be summarized as follows:
(1) Freudian Theory. Sigmund Freud felt that while the grief response was normal, in some instances, grief can turn to depression. When this happens, the depression is commonly accompanied by a lowering of self-esteem and feelings of self-reproach and self-revilement.
Also, if there is ambivalence about the loss, there can be an obsessional component in which the mind fixates upon a certain event or events (usually negative, angry moments) involving the decreased. Freud attributed these states to the adaptive need to reinvest psychoemotional energy previously invested in the loved ones. This reinvestment can occur via the mourning process.
(2) Otto Fenichel: Fenichel essentially expands and clarifies Freudian postulates that: a) one identifies part of self with the deceased as part of the adaptive response to bere...