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Published on: August 5, 2020
A modest proposal about bereavement and recovery
1Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College of the City, University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA. dbalk@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Death Studies
|July 26, 2008
Summary
Recovery, not resilience, aptly describes post-bereavement change. This study explores how recovery facilitates transforming change after loss, challenging the prevailing use of resilience in thanatology.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Thanatology
- Grief Studies
Background:
- The term 'resilience' is increasingly favored in thanatology literature for describing responses to bereavement.
- The term 'recovery' has been dismissed as inappropriate for long-term bereavement responses.
- Standard English definitions of resilience emphasize the ability to recover quickly from misfortune.
Purpose of the Study:
- To argue that 'recovery' is a more fitting term than 'resilience' for describing post-bereavement trajectories.
- To explore the concept of transforming change following bereavement.
- To examine the reflexive meaning of 'recovery' in the context of profound life changes.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of thanatology and general English dictionaries.
- Qualitative research involving bereaved teenagers and college students.
- Analysis of manifestations of transforming change in bereaved individuals.
Main Results:
- Research with bereaved youth indicates significant transforming changes across spiritual, cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal domains.
- These changes align with a reflexive understanding of 'recovery'.
- The definition of resilience as 'quick recovery' appears incongruent with profound post-bereavement transformation.
Conclusions:
- The term 'recovery' better captures the potential for transformative change after bereavement than 'resilience'.
- Bereavement can lead to significant personal growth and transformation, as evidenced in bereaved adolescents and young adults.
- Further linguistic exploration is needed to find the most precise term for post-bereavement transformation if 'recovery' is deemed insufficient.
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