Between loss and restoration: The role of liminality in advancing theories of grief and bereavement

Katherine Bristowe; Liadh Timmins; Alexandra Pitman; Debbie Braybrook; Steve Marshall; Katherine Johnson; Michael King; Anna Roach; Deokhee Yi; Kathryn Almack; Elizabeth Day; Paul Clift; Ruth Rose; Richard Harding

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116616

Between loss and restoration: The role of liminality in advancing theories of grief and bereavement

Soc Sci Med. 2024 Mar:344:116616. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116616. Epub 2024 Jan 23.

Authors

Katherine Bristowe¹, Liadh Timmins², Alexandra Pitman³, Debbie Braybrook⁴, Steve Marshall⁵, Katherine Johnson⁶, Michael King⁷, Anna Roach⁸, Deokhee Yi⁹, Kathryn Almack¹⁰, Elizabeth Day¹¹, Paul Clift¹², Ruth Rose¹³, Richard Harding¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9PJ, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Sketty, Swansea, SA2 8PP, Wales, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, 6th Floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK; Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, St. Pancras Hospital, 4 St Pancras Way, London, NW1 0PE, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9PJ, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9PJ, UK; King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Social and Global Studies Centre, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, 6th Floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, 6th Floor, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9PJ, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Patient and Public Involvement Representative, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹² Patient and Public Involvement Representative, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹³ Patient and Public Involvement Representative, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁴ Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9PJ, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 38310729
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116616

Abstract

A recent national survey of bereaved partners found high levels of complicated grief and psychological distress, with evidence that loneliness and isolation may contribute to these outcomes. However, the mechanisms of action for this have not been explored. To advance grief theory this paper reports analysis of the survey free-text data to examine the relationship between social support and emotional responses to bereavement. Individuals bereaved of a civil partner or spouse 6-10 months previously were identified through death registration data. 569/1945 (29 %) completed surveys were received. Of those, 311 participants (55 %) provided responses to two free-text questions which asked about their 'feelings since the death of their partner or spouse', and 'about the support around' them. Data were analysed using corpus-assisted discourse analysis and the discourse dynamics approach for figurative language. Participants described diverse emotional responses to the bereavement (e.g. sadness, anger, denial, acceptance), and the value of formal and informal bereavement support. Although many of the experiences described are accounted for in existing grief theory, some participants described a liminal experience not recognised within these theories. They felt trapped, unable to engage with loss or restoration, and unable to move forward as their planned future no longer existed. They sought out 'communitas' (solidarity in experiences), but often found support from their social networks had diminished. Metaphors were used to describe this liminality, with partner grief expressed as a dark agentic force, a monster, an abyss, and as water. The findings of this study offer original insights into experiences and trajectories of bereavement, and our understandings of prolonged or complicated grief. A novel model 'Between Loss and Restoration' is presented to include these experiences. Recognition of the place for liminality within the spectrum of grief experiences could enhance grief literacy and improve formal and informal bereavement support provision.

Keywords: Bereavement; Emotions; Grief; Partner; Qualitative; Social support; Theory.

MeSH terms

Anger
Bereavement*
Grief
Humans
Language
Loneliness

Abstract

MeSH terms

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