Effective fields the experience of mourning after the death of a family member: A phenomenological study

Abstract

Aim: Loss of an important family member is the biggest crisis that one has to face. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the experience of the research participants after mourning the death of a family member.Method: This study used a descriptive phenomenological research approach to collect and analyze data.12 participants who had already experienced the death of a family member were selected using purposive sampling method. The participants attended in-depth interviews until data saturation was reached. Finding: Data analysis revealed 4 themes and 14 subthemes for the phenomenon, including: Effective family fields with sub-themes: Emotional support and family companionship, family functioning and restructuring, how family moves through grief stages, continuity of family subsystems functioning, and deceased person's status in the family; effective personal fields with sub-themes: moderator Personality traits, beneficial or inappropriate use of language, impact on one's past experiences and post-traumatic growth; Effective attitudinal contexts with sub-themes Non-religious and secular attitudes to death, Religious and religious attitudes to death, Accepting or rejecting the reality of death; Effective cultural fields with sub-themes extended family support, mourning cultures.Conclution: The findings of this study extend past literature on mourning in the family context. Also, the effective fields extracted from this study have a lot of practical implications for specialists and people involved in mourning.

Keywords

• mourning
• family
• lived experience
• phenomenology