Community as a key to healing after the death of a child
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Sally O Hastings
Sally O. Hastings (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests include communication and bereavement, cultural adaptation, and communication and stigma. She has published in
Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Research on Language and Social Interaction , andStorytelling, Self, Society .
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George W Musambira
Dr. George W. Musambira (Ph.D., SUNY, Bualo) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include communication in the partnerships of philanthropic organizations and gender and bereavement. He has published in
Howard Journal of Communications andCommunication Education .Judith Hoover (Ph.D., Indiana Univ., 1983), Professor of Communication at Western Kentucky University (retired), has published in
American Behavioral Scientist, Southern Communication Journal , andSouthern Quarterly . She also publishedEffective Small Group and Team Communication (Wadsworth) and editedCorporate Advocacy (Greenwood). She served as editor ofWorld Communication , a refereed international journal, 1997–2002.
Abstract
Communication is believed to hold a central role in recreating an individual's sense of meaning and well-being after a loss. Narrative theory in particular points to ways that people create meaning and connection with others. Literature on bereavement suggests that the formation of connections with others, or building community, comprises an important part of the healing process. For this study, the content of bulletin board postings commemorating deceased children was studied quantitatively and qualitatively. Data were examined to learn how contributors used the Web site to connect with others who shared experience of losing a child, engage in meaningful shared activities, and create community. Findings from the data analysis suggest that the Web site contributors are able to discuss topics that might be restricted in other communication scenes. The discussion of these topics allows them to serve as ‘witnesses’ to truths learned as a result of the loss of a child and enables the participants to keep the memory of the child alive. By participating in this scene of meaning negotiation, we argue that the participants actively construct a counterplot to societal narrative expectations for bereavement that facilitates the creation of some positive meanings.
About the authors
Sally O. Hastings (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests include communication and bereavement, cultural adaptation, and communication and stigma. She has published in Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Research on Language and Social Interaction, and Storytelling, Self, Society.
Dr. George W. Musambira (Ph.D., SUNY, Bualo) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. His research interests include communication in the partnerships of philanthropic organizations and gender and bereavement. He has published in Howard Journal of Communications and Communication Education.
Judith Hoover (Ph.D., Indiana Univ., 1983), Professor of Communication at Western Kentucky University (retired), has published in American Behavioral Scientist, Southern Communication Journal, and Southern Quarterly. She also published Effective Small Group and Team Communication (Wadsworth) and edited Corporate Advocacy (Greenwood). She served as editor of World Communication, a refereed international journal, 1997–2002.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Situating end-of-life decision making in a hybrid ethical frame
- Professional-patient communication in the treatment of mental illness: A review
- Community as a key to healing after the death of a child
- Whiteboards: Mediating professional tensions in clinical practice
- Negotiating frame ambiguity: A study of simulated encounters in medical education
- Lexical conflation and edible iconicity: Two sources of ambiguity in American vernacular health terminology
- Index of articles in Volume 4 (2007)
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Situating end-of-life decision making in a hybrid ethical frame
- Professional-patient communication in the treatment of mental illness: A review
- Community as a key to healing after the death of a child
- Whiteboards: Mediating professional tensions in clinical practice
- Negotiating frame ambiguity: A study of simulated encounters in medical education
- Lexical conflation and edible iconicity: Two sources of ambiguity in American vernacular health terminology
- Index of articles in Volume 4 (2007)
