Unfortunately, there are situations where the grief that some people experience when they incur a loss is not or cannot be openly acknowledged, publicly mourned, or socially supported. In other words, a person who has suffered a loss does not have the right to act as if he/she is bereaved even though he/she IS bereaved. This inexpressible and unsupportable grief is called disenfranchised grief. Ken Doka, a researcher who has studied this extensively, contends that society disenfranchises grief and mourners by not recognizing any of the following:
- The relationship between the deceased and a survivor,
- The importance of the loss, or
- The need to be a griever.
My blog Grief: Disenfranchised Grief describes this and its implications more fully.
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