Les variations spatio-temporelles de la (non) reconnaissance sociale du deuil périnatal

Abstract

Stemming from a critical reflexion on the concept of disenfranchised grief (DG), this article examines the way (non) acknowledgement unfolds in the context of perinatal death/grief, along spatial and temporal lines. It was shown that acknowledgment tends to decrease as we move along the temporal axis (i.e. the further away we move from the time of the perinatal death), and as we move along the spatial axis (i.e. more homogeneous in the medical sphere, less so in the family and social sphere, and often absent in the professional sphere). (Non) acknowledgment is neither monolithic, nor binary or static. Tangibility, social scripts and the relationship to the emotions of other are three notions that have been found to help us make sense of these results.

Keywords

• disenfranchised grief
• non acknowledgment
• perinatal death
• perinatal grief