Michael Robert Dennis

A Social Constructionist Account of Grief: Loss and the Narration of Meaning

In contrast to dominant Western conceptions of bereavement in largely intrapsychic terms, the authors argue that grief or mourning is not primarily an interior process, but rather one that is intricately social, as the bereaved commonly seek meaning in this unsought transition in not only personal and familial, but also broader community and even cultural spheres. The authors therefore advocate a social constructionist model of grieving in which the narrative processes by which meanings are found, appropriated, or assembled occur at least as fully between people as within them. In this view, mourning is a situated interpretive and communicative activity charged with establishing the meaning of the deceaseds life and death, as well as the postdeath status of the bereaved within the broader community concerned with the loss. They describe this multilevel phenomenon drawing first on psychological research on individual self-narratives that organize life experience into plot structures that display some level of consistency over time, whose viability is then negotiated in the intimate interpersonal domain of family and close associates. Second, they explore public communication, including eulogies, grief accounts in popular literature, and elegies. All of these discourses construct the identity of the deceased as he or she was, and as she or he is now in the individual and communal continuing bonds with the deceased. Finally, they consider different cultural contexts to see how expressions of grief are policed to ensure their coherence with the prevailing social and political order. That is, the meanings people find through the situated interpretive and communicative activity that is grieving must either be congruent with the meanings that undergird the larger context or represent an active form of resistance against them.

Grief consolation in eulogy rhetoric: an integrative framework.

In an ever more deadly and uncertain world, rhetoric honoring the deceased is still examined as though that was its primary, if not only, function. Some critics of eulogia also identify the consolation of survivors but rarely define it precisely or analyze its rhetorical execution. This article introduces a framework for the critical analysis and production of eulogia that draws from comforting mechanisms recognized in the interpersonal communication, social psychology, and grief therapy literatures. Self-disclosure, problem-focused coping, positive reappraisal, and the affirmation and continuation of relationships with the deceased are shown to inform criticism of five contemporary eulogies. Challenges inherent in the invention and appreciation of eulogy rhetoric are thus illuminated and addressed.

“Let’s (Not) Talk About That”: Bridging the Past Sexual Experiences Taboo to Build Healthy Romantic Relationships

Research has shown that individuals in romantic relationships often avoid discussing past sexual experiences. To ascertain whether past relationships and past sexual experiences were considered to be “taboo,” 102 individuals involved in romantic relationships were asked to list the topics that they were reluctant to discuss with their partners. As past relationships and past sexual experiences were reported as topics often avoided, responses to an open-ended questionnaire were coded to determine: (a) the reasons individuals give for avoiding talk about past sexual experiences and (b) whether there are sex differences in how often those reasons appeared in responses. In descending order of prevalence, respondents reported that they tend to avoid discussing past sexual experiences due to four main concerns: (a) belief that the past should be kept in the past, (b) identity issues, (c) perceived threats to their relationships, and (d) emotionally upsetting feelings. Men and women displayed extreme similarity in the frequency with which they indicated particular reasons for avoidance. Data-inspired suggestions for individuals hoping to elicit discussion of past sexual experiences with partners are offered.

Problematic Integration Theory, Appraisal Theory, and the Bosom Buddies Breast Cancer Support Group

Problematic integration (Babrow, 1992) and appraisal (Lazarus, 1991) theories are utilized to analyze the beneficial coping and social support produced within the discourse of Bosom Buddies, a breast cancer support group. Transcripts of eight weekly group meetings were coded for assessments of the probabilities and evaluations of outcomes, information seeking, and information avoidance, as well as for positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping, sense making (Harber & Pennebaker, 1992), and emotional disclosure (Pennebaker, 1997). Results indicated that all constructs other than information avoidance, especially those drawn from problematic integration theory, were employed regularly. Most constructs were prevalent in these real-time interactive conversations. Practical applications of the constructs are recommended for breast cancer support group members and facilitators.

FALLEN HEROES, LIFTED HEARTS: CONSOLATION IN CONTEMPORARY PRESIDENTIAL EULOGIA

A. D. Kunkel and M. R. Dennis (2003) demonstrated that examining texts for identified components of eulogia, as drawn from the comforting and social support paradigms found in psychology and communication literatures (i.e., credibility establishment, praise for the deceased, self-disclosure of emotion, prescriptions for problem-focused coping, promotion of positive reappraisal for emotion-focused coping, and the affirmation and continuation of relationships), is critical to understanding eulogistic phenomena. Analysis of three Presidential eulogies, as informed by the components, reveals calls for unity in President Ronald Wilson Reagans 1986 eulogy for the Challenger space shuttle crew, suggestions for action in President William Jefferson Clintons 1995 eulogy for USS Cole sailors, and positive reappraisal within astronauts’ quotes offered by President George Walker Bush during his 2003 eulogy for the Columbia space shuttle crew.

The Grief Account: Dimensions of a Contemporary Bereavement Genre

The genre of the grief account is identified to include published narratives of surviving grief. Thematic analysis of Andrew Hollerans (2006) Grief: A Novel, Lolly Winstons (2004) Good Grief: A Novel, Joan Didions (2005) The Year of Magical Thinking, and J. Canfield and M. V. Hansens (2003) Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul: Stories About Life, Death and Overcoming the Loss of a Loved One is informed by recent scholarship regarding eulogies and illness and dying narratives. Six dimensions (restorative, evaluative, interpretive, affirmative, affective, transformative) of contemporary grief accounts are recognized as sources of inspiration for the practice and experience of bereavement.

Effects of Narrative and Paradigmatic Judgmental Orientations on the Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence in Health-Related Inference

One moderator of the persuasive power of quantitative and qualitative evidence—using verbal messages to prime judgmental orientations—holds particular promise for influencing decisions. The current project replicates and extends judgmental orientation research findings to health-related inference. Participants judged target characters’ likelihoods of illness based on varying numeric and descriptive information. A pilot and two main studies indicate differential judgment outcomes for individuals cued to adopt paradigmatic and narrative orientations. Practical applications of judgmental orientation are recommended to health communicators and health communication scholars.

Do Grief Self-Help Books Convey Contemporary Perspectives on Grieving?

Grief therapy and psychology literatures of the modern Western world conceptualized bereavement and grief as processes to be “worked through” so that other relationships could be pursued. In the last decade or so, however, grief theorists have endorsed the value of attaining new meaning(s) and continuing bonds with our lost loved ones instead of “moving on from,” “letting go of,” or “achieving closure from” them. This article tracks the evolution of thought pertaining to this shift and examines its relevance to grief self-help books that may offer Americans guidance in the ways of grieving.

Mourning, Meaning, and Memory: Individual, Communal, and Cultural Narration of Grief

In this chapter we argue that grief or mourning is not simply an interior or intrapsychic process, although that is how it has been defined for most of the past century. Instead we describe grief in terms of the processes by which meanings are found, appropriated or assembled at least as fully between people as within them. In this view, mourning is an interaction between interior, interpersonal, communal, and cultural narratives. We argue, then, that mourning is a situated interpretive and communicative activity charged with establishing the meaning of the deceased’s life and death at three levels. First, we look at psychological research on individual self-narratives that organize life experience into plot structures with some level of consistency over time. Second, we explore public communication, including eulogies, grief accounts in popular literature, and elegies. All these discourses construct the identity of the deceased as they were, and as they are now in the individual and communal continuation of bonds with the dead. Third, we consider different cultural contexts in order to understand the rules of grieving and to see how grief is policed. Individuals, in their grief, conform to or actively challenge the dominant cultural narratives that script the “proper” performance of grief in a manner that is coherent with the prevailing social order. That is, the meanings people find through the situated interpretive and communicative activity of mourners must either be congruent with the meanings that undergird the larger context or represent an active form of resistance against them.

Proletarian or Promethean? Impacts of Automation and Program Integration on Social Service Workers and Their Clients

This article addresses a controversy regarding the extent to which an information technology system may marginalize social service workers and their clients. The Indiana Client Eligibility System (ICES) software was designed to maintain, distribute, and streamline that state’s Aid for Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamp, and Medicaid programs while also setting the stage for a welfare-to-workfare policy transition. One Indiana county’s welfare staff and clients are analyzed after adoption of ICES. Observation, interviews, and a perspective informed by Giddens’s 1979 notions of structuration and DeSanctis and Poole’s 1994 Adaptive Structuration Theory reveal ICES’s structural features and “spirit,” its dependence and impact on organizational structure, and its effects on the perceived roles and relationships of caseworkers (i.e., “disenchanted” and “distanced”), supervisors (i.e., “disempowered”), clients (i.e., “disenfranchised”), and clerks (i.e., “disbursing” and “distinctive”).