Bereaved Parents' Negotiation of Identity Following the Death of a Child

Abstract

This study examines changes in bereaved parents' identities following the death of a child. The bereaved parents in this study experienced two dialectical contradictions of identity, which are: (a) a parent without a child to parent and (b) I'm an outsider-I'm an insider. Results describe how parents used communication to negotiate these contradictions of identity. Implications for the study of parental bereavement, communication, and identity are discussed.

Keywords:

• Communication
• Dialectical Contradictions
• Identity
• Parental Bereavement

This manuscript is drawn in its entirety from the author's doctoral dissertation, directed by Dr. Dawn O. Braithwaite.

Notes

Numbers denote interview number and the line number(s) of the corresponding transcript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paige W. Toller

Paige W. Toller (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.