Understanding the process of the disposition of a loved one’s possessions using a theoretical framework of grief

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to understand how people manage the mass of objects accumulated by a deceased relative. We argue that the practices in respect of the deceased’s possessions depend on the evolution of the relationship of the bereaved to the deceased. To understand this relationship, we draw on the concept of grief. Sixteen interviews with bereaved individuals show that management of the deceased’s accumulated belongings follows a process punctuated by four periods depending on the relationship between the bereaved and the deceased: numbness (confronting the absence of the deceased and paralysis with regard to his objects); yearning (looking for the lost person through his possessions by trying to maintain a link to them); personal disorganization (experiencing negative emotions toward the deceased, which may lead the bereaved to transgress personal values and throw things out); and finally reorganization/reconstruction (making the deceased “live” by forging another relationship to his possessions and revisiting the meaning of the consumption of products). These results allow us to enrich the understanding of the process of dispossession of non-transmitted items. They also show that clearing the house of a deceased relative leads the bereaved to consume less and/or in a different way (collaborative consumption).

KEYWORDS:

• Disposition behavior
• object relationships
• death
• grief
• consumption

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to warmly thank the guest editors, Susan Dobscha and Jeffrey S. Podoshen; the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions, which have greatly improved this article and the journal editor, Jonathan Schroeder. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Guillaume D. Johnson, researcher at Paris Dauphine University, for his invaluable re-reading of the paper, and our respondents for their invaluable testimony and participation in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by Ademe (Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie); «Mobilisation de la notion de gaspillage» ou GASPI-IR publié en mai 2015, projet Consci-Gaspi, N°1577C0017.