Helen K. Black

Life As Gift: Spiritual Narratives of Elderly African-American Women Living in Poverty

Abstract Fifty elderly African-American women living in poverty were interviewed for a research project entitled, “Chronic Poverty and the Self in Later Life.” Using four representative case studies from the 50 respondents, this article explores how their spirituality informs their ability to cope with poverty. A key theme emerging from the womens narratives is that their relationship with God, perceived as personal, reciprocal, and empowering, allows them to take an active and positive stance in viewing and interpreting the circumstances of their life. Their spirituality imbues their hardship with meaning, engenders self-esteem, keeps despair at bay, and grants hope for rewards both in this life and the next.

The Effect of Suffering on Generativity: Accounts of Elderly African American Men

BACKGROUNDnThis article focuses on attitudes to and behaviors of generativity in 6 older African American (AA) men.nnnMETHODSnData on generativity emerged from in-depth qualitative research that explored experiences of suffering in community-dwelling persons aged 80 years and over.nnnRESULTSnFor these AA men, experiences of racism were salient in stories of suffering, and suffering was intricately related to attitudes and behaviors of generativity. We placed mens narratives, showing the link between suffering and generativity, in 3 categories: Generativity is rooted in (a) suffering and in empathy for suffering others, (b) experiences of redemption from suffering, and (c) religious belief that assuages suffering.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese AA mens generative behaviors were shaped by unique life experiences, including experiences of suffering. Bequeathing a legacy to succeeding generations was tied to suffering experiences, to the personal and communal identities that emerged from suffering, to the importance of inter- and intragenerational community, and to what men believed others needed from them.

Moral imagination in long-term care workers.

Our study focused on the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. This article centers on direct care workers perspective of residents deaths. The data on which this article is based were gathered in a multi-year, multi-site study through formal ethnographic interviews, informal conversations, and on-site observations of residents and staff members. During fieldwork, we noticed an aptitude of direct care workers to deal with residents deaths, which we named “moral imagination.” The term is borrowed from other disciplines to describe a “way of seeing” residents. The case studies presented—that of three direct care workers: a dietary aide, a nurse aide, and an assistant activities director—are suggestive of workers in each category. Our study offers implications for future research concerning direct care workers value to residents quality of life. We also propose questions for long-term care facilities about standards of formal caregiving at the end of life.

How the “Not Religious” Experience and Witness Suffering and Death: Case Studies

ABSTRACT This article is based on a subset of a multi-site (8), multi-year (4) research study that explored the cultural construction of dying and death in long-term care facilities. In open-ended interviews with residents and staff members, we learned how four individuals who describe themselves as “not religious” respond to queries about the meaning of suffering and death while working and living in long-term care. We present case studies of two residents and two staff members from one of the sites–a secular, for-profit nursing home–who described themselves as not religious. We offer a brief history of their lives and daily activities, and present their responses to our queries about dying and death. A finding of this article is that the nonreligious residents and staff members discussed here found significance in personal meaning systems developed through past, positive life events and present uncertainty about suffering and death. The self-described “not religious” provide another perspective on facing the end of life.

The Sacred Self: Suffering Narratives in Old Age:

This article is based on ongoing qualitative research that explores elders (80+) experiences of suffering. We show how respondents link the subject of suffering to a personal sense of the sacred in order to find meaning for suffering. We describe the major concepts of this article: the sacred, suffering, aging identity, and narrative. Through case studies, we show how an individuals sense of the sacred and experiences of suffering are revealed through the use of metaphors and symbols in the narrative. A key finding of this article is that concepts and experiences of suffering and a personal sacred emerge contextually from an elders individual biography and communal history, as well as from present life circumstances.

Is Pain Suffering? A Case Study.

In this article, the case study of an elderly woman shows how bodily pain and suffering meld in her narrative, not as the subjective and objective sides of the same event, but as distinct experiences in which both constructs emerge separately or come together based on the meaning she imputes to the event. The case study shows the clear methodological fit of qualitative narrative research with the lived experiences of pain and suffering. The narrator recalled the “tremendous” pain she experienced almost 60 years previously as both suffering and not-suffering, depending on the outcome of the circumstances that surrounded her pain. This case shows how a significant aspect of the aging experience—suffering—is medicalized, yet remains resistant to both categorization and medicine.