Diversity & Spiritual Care in the Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Disenfranchised grief is the experience of grief where the loss, the style of grieving, or the griever is not or cannot be sufficiently recognized. It describes well what a great many underrepresented spiritual care providers experience at times during their clinical pastoral education – feeling as if one is a stranger – racially, socially, and culturally – in the exchange of care. This paper discusses this experience in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, ultimately endeavoring to stress the importance of being both seen and recognized.

KEYWORDS:

• Disenfranchised grief
• Covid-19
• underrepresented
• emotional lifecycle of a disaster
• hospital chaplaincy
• clinical pastoral education

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Wilson-Cone, “The Growing Edge,” 58.

2 Doka, Disenfranchised Grief, 12.

3 Douglas, Stand Your Ground, xi.

4 Siler et al., “Spirituality and the Illness Experience,” 623.

5 Buhuro, Spiritual Care in an Age of #BlackLivesMatter, 13.

6 Hamilton and Fluker, “An Exploration of Suffering and Spirituality,” 2816.

7 DeWolfe, “Training Manual,” 10. Zunin and Meyers developed a six-phase theoretical model outlining the common progression of both collective and individual responses to major disasters for mental health planners and workers providing ongoing disaster recovery assistance. The first is the ‘pre-disaster’ or ‘threat’ phase, in which an impending disaster generates feelings of vulnerability for those who do not experience a warning, and guilt for those who received one but chose not to heed it. The second is the ‘impact’ phase, which involves personal reactions to the impact of the disaster ranging from shock to panic. Third is the ‘heroic’ phase, a period in the immediate aftermath of the disasters when survivors of the disaster engage in rescue efforts. The fourth phase is the ‘remedy’ or ‘honeymoon’ phase, during the week to months after the disaster when disaster assistance is readily available. Fifth is the ‘disillusionment’ phase, when people begin to realize and confront the limits of disaster support, and stress and fatigue mounts. The sixth and final phase is the ‘recovery’ or ‘reconstruction’ phase, in which people begin to adjust, regain some optimism, and assume responsibility for rebuilding their communities bringing about a new beginning.

8 DeWolfe, “Training Manual,” 10.

9 Wilson-Cone, “The Growing Edge,” 58.

10 Ibid., 57.

11 Kristeva, The Portable Kristeva, 279.

12 White et al., “Mapping the Healthcare Chaplaincy Workforce,” 240.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elam D. Jones

Elam D. Jones is a PhD student in the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University. He works parttime as a spiritual care provider at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and serves as an officer and Chaplain Candidate in the US Navy. He holds a BA from DePaul University.