[Losing one's father at 20 years of age]

At first intending to describe and understand how all family members experience mourning, three researchers at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières found that very few studies have dealt with young men's reactions to the deaths of their fathers. The researchers then conducted a qualitative study, using a phenomenological approach, of this as yet little-explored subject. This study, Le deuil tel qu'expérimenté par les fils lors du décès de leur père (Grieving as experienced by sons on their fathers' death), enabled them to describe and better understand what young men experience on their fathers' death. The father was an important figure in the subjects' lives, and his death was a pivotal experience for each of them. The family structure was shattered and, while each subject's experience was unique, their intense reactions resemble those described by grief theorists. In a detailed discussion of the results of the study, the authors relate these results to theories on grief and youth, and suggest applications in nursing practice.