The Loss of a Life Partner: Narratives of the Bereaved / Edition 1

by Carolyn Ambler Walter

Overview

Although there is extensive research on the loss of a spouse, predominantly focusing on the experiences of widows, much less attention is paid to bereaved partners not married to their significant other, whether or not the partners are of the same sex. This first-of-its-kind work explores both socially sanctioned and disenfranchised grief, highlighting similarities and differences. Combining a discussion of various theories of grief with personal narratives of grieving men and women drawn from numerous interviews, and detailed case study analysis, Carolyn Ambler Walter has produced a penetrating examination of the bereavement experiences of partners in varying types of relationships. She views narratives of widows, widowers, and bereaved domestic gay and lesbian partners from a postmodern perspective that breaks away from the traditional belief that the living must detach themselves from the dead in order to move on with their lives. Instead, building on the works of postmodern grief theorists such as Klass, Silverman, and Nickman, Walter views ongoing bonds with the dead as a resource for enriching functionality in the present, and as a key to looking to the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231119696
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	03/05/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Carolyn Ambler Walter, Ph.D., LCSW, is a professor at the Center for Social Work Education at Widener University, Chester, PA, and maintains a private clinical social work practice. Dr. Walter is co-author of Breast Cancer in the Life Course: Women's Experiences, and is the author of The Timing of Motherhood.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Interviews
Overview
Chapter One Theories of Grief: How They Inform Our Understanding of the Loss of a Partner
Classical Paradigm of Grief
Postmodern Paradigm of Grief
Integrating the Paradigms
Chapter Two Loss of a Partner: Current Issues
Review of Literature on Loss of a Spouse
Gender and Grief
Review of Literature on Opposite-Sex Partner Loss
Review of Literature on Same-Sex Partner Loss
Similarities and Differences Among Types of Partner Loss
Chapter Three Loss of a Spouse
Young Widows
Bereaved Older Spouses
Chapter Summary
Chapter Four Loss of an Opposite-Sex Partner
Disenfranchised Grief
Chapter Summary
Chapter Five Loss of a Gay Partner
Issues Faced by a Bereaved Gay Partner
Chapter Summary
Chapter Six Loss of a Lesbian Partner
Issues Faced by a Bereaved Lesbian Partner
Chapter Summary
Chapter Seven Similar and Diverse Themes Among Bereaved Partners
Ambivalence Regarding Existing Ties with Deceased Partner
Discrimination Experienced by Surviving Partners in Nontraditional Relationships
Using Memories and Continuing Bonds with the Bereaved to Cope with Grieving
Developing New Relationships While Continuing Bonds with the Deceased Partner
Making Meaning from the Experience of the Death of a Partner
Chapter Summary
Chapter Eight Interventions
A Classical Model of Interventions with Bereaved Partners
A Postmodern Model of Interventions with Bereaved Partners
Interventions with Bereaved Spouses
Interventions with Young Widows
Interventions with Bereaved Men
Interventions with Bereaved Domestic Partners
Interventions with Bereaved Lesbian Partners
Interventions with Bereaved Gay Partners
Working with Gay and Lesbian Bereaved Partners
Chapter Summary
Chapter Nine Clinical Implications
Clinical Implications for Interventions with Bereaved Partners
Clinical Implications for Interventions with Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Partners
Clinical Implications for a Response to the Events of September 11, 2001
Conclusions
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Jeffrey Kauffman

With clarity and grace, Walter articulates traditional and postmodern bereavement theory, and illuminates these theories with moving narratives...

— Jeffrey Kauffman, Center for the Care of Community Institutions

Robert Zucker

Well researched and rich with narrative material... interviews with bereaved lesbian partners and grievers from other nontraditional relationships open up our hearts and our minds to the universal bereavement challenges.... An important contribution to the field of thanatology.

— Robert Zucker, editor, Grief and Healing Newsletter

Editorial Reviews

Walter offers 22 stories of individuals whose life partner died, presenting them against a tapestry of bereavement theories and issues. The widows and widowers describe the challenges of reframing their identity and life; particularly powerful are narratives and experiences of gay men and lesbians, because as disenfranchised grievers they lack the access to the legal benefits, supports, and social rituals of mourning... The captivating struggle of grief involves a crisis in meaning as bereavement shatters assumptions, support systems, coupled identity, and patterns of life.

Choice

Well structured and accessible to both lay and professional readers.

Mortality - Christine Valentine

Well structured and accessible to both lay and professional readers.

— Christine Valentine

Mortality

Walter's book is well written, accessible and compassionate and certainly extends our understanding of the experiences and needs of bereaved partners.

— Carole Smith

Journal of Social Work

First of its kind...psychologists and counselors can benefit from this book.

Canadian Social Work

Walter's book is well written, accessible and compassionate and certainly extends our understanding of the experiences and needs of bereaved partners.

Journal of Social Work - Carole Smith