Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T09:17:21.581Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Bereavement as a psychosocial transition: Processes of adaptation to change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2010

Margaret S. Stroebe
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Wolfgang Stroebe
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Robert O. Hansson
Affiliation:
Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get access

Summary

People are fascinating because of their individuality; no two problems are alike because no two people are alike. This tempts some people to reject theories of human behavior. There are none that can be expected to predict or explain more than part of a person, and it seems mechanistic to attempt to force people into preconceived models. Yet we must have some frame of reference if we are to be of use to those who cannot cope with life's vicissitudes. It is not enough for us to stay close and to open our hearts to another person's suffering; valuable though this sympathy may sometimes be, we must have some way of stepping aside from the maze of emotion and sensation if we are to make sense of it.

One might say that our central nervous system has been designed to enable us to do just that. Human beings, to a greater extent than other species, have the capacity to organize the most complex impressions into internal models of the world, which enable us to recognize and understand the world that we experience and to predict the outcome of our own and others' behavior. Psychological theories are one way of doing this, and the measure of their success is their usefulness.

This article describes a theory that the writer has found useful in explaining certain aspects of the human reaction to loss.

Type
Chapter
Information
Handbook of Bereavement
Theory, Research, and Intervention
, pp. 91 - 101
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×