Mothers Now Childless: Survival after the Death of an Only Child

Prior research has highlighted the search for meaning and its impact on personal growth following the death of a child [1–3]. This study, however, is the first to address the dual loss of a child and of the role of parent. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to understand the life-world of eighty mothers whose only child (aged 3 to 21) died from accident or illness five or more years previously. The data produced descriptions of the qualitative difference between remaining in a state of perpetual bereavement and surviving to live life “alive” again. The findings suggest that motherhood becomes an integral part of the self and in order to survive this dual loss, it is necessary not to relinquish this construct. Rather, it is important to find meaningful ways to continue “mothering” as part of a new, more integrated identity which acknowledges the child's death but also preserves the child's memory and honors the woman's past life as a mother.

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Mothers Now Childless: Structures of the Life-World

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.2190/jx2h-uy58-0cpp-d6ur ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 45-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kay Talbot

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Methods ◽

Only Child ◽

Life World ◽

Only Children ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽

Bereaved Parents ◽

Crisis Of Meaning ◽

Depth Interviews

Prior research has highlighted the fact that bereaved parents are confronted with a severe crisis of meaning in their lives (Braun & Berg, 1994; Craig, 1977; Miles & Crandall, 1986; Rando, 1986; Wheeler, 1990). The author conducted a study (Talbot, 1996–97) which combined both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand what it means for mothers to survive the death of their only child. This article focuses on the findings from ten in-depth interviews which delineate the life-world of participant bereaved mothers. Implications for counselors and other professionals assisting bereaved mothers of only children are included.

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Modelling the Process of Reflection with Pre-Service Student Teachers

Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala ◽

10.18662/rrem/13.3/443 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 116-133

Author(s):

Ganna Krapivnyk ◽

Natalia Tuchyna ◽

Olha Bashkir ◽

Volodymyr Borysov ◽

Olena Gonchar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Student Teachers ◽

Personal Growth ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Gradual Transition ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Reflective Practitioners ◽

Reflective Skills ◽

Pair Work

The article traces the role of reflection in teacher education and explores the issue of the necessity of creating a system of developing student teachers reflective skills in the process of their university studies. The importance of reflection in linking theoretical knowledge with teaching and learning practices is emphasized. The model of guided reflection employed at the Department of Foreign Philology at H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University is described in detail and examined through different research methods, including qualitative and quantitative analysis of various documents (questionnaires, observation charts, reflective essays etc.) and interviews with participant focus groups. The article presents samples of activities used in pedagogy and methodology classes, and observations of student teachers’ behaviours while performing them. Some information about students’ perception of the model steps is also provided. The collected data prove that student teachers manage to get accustomed to continuous reflection and, thanks to gradual transition from communal reflective activities to pair work and individual assignments as well as constant and sufficient scaffolding, interaction with the ‘knowledgeable other’ feel more confident, are getting aware of the benefits of reflection, and are developing skills of reflective practitioners, which are crucial for their further professional and personal growth.

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The Role of Feeling in the Entertainment=Emotion Formula

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000025 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 6-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Gerald C. Cupchik

Keyword(s):

Life Experiences ◽

The Self ◽

Personal Life ◽

Deep Processing ◽

Search For Meaning ◽

Social Situations ◽

Intellectual Engagement ◽

Aesthetic Engagement

This paper examines feelings and emotions in relation to entertainment experiences. Feelings reflect an appraisal of everyday events or media products that shape our experience of pleasure and interest which are complementary. Pleasure can result from the meaningful interpretation of a program or from positive associations that it evokes. Interest in a program can result from intellectual engagement and a search for meaning or simply to alleviate boredom. According to a reactive model of media involvement, a person selects stimuli which modulate feelings of pleasure or excitement. This affective covariation process is superficial in the sense that there is no need for deep processing in order to determine the value of the stimulus. Emotions are more closely tied to the self and the meaning of social situations. Emotion can be related to a reflective model of aesthetic involvement whereby a person interprets the work in terms of relevant aesthetic knowledge and personal life experiences. This search for underlying layers of meaning leads to deeper aesthetic engagement and emotional elaboration. The main point here is that processes related to the experience of feelings and emotions run concurrently. Feelings reflect more global responses to events involving characters and plots. Emotions are more firmly grounded in the search for meaning in depicted situations and implicate the lives of audiences who watch the programs.

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Reason and Life. Phenomenological Interpretations of Don Quixote

Investigaciones Fenomenológicas ◽

10.5944/rif.4-i.2013.29746 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 235

Author(s):

Dalius Jonkus

Keyword(s):

Don Quixote ◽

The Self ◽

Life World ◽

Don Quijote

Don Quixote is not only a novel which represents Spanish culture, but a hero that reveals the relation between life and reason. I will compare two interpretations of Don Quixote. The first phenomenological interpreta-tion belongs to Ortega Y Gasset, and the second to Lithuanian philosopher Algis Mickūnas. The interpretations of Don Quixote are related to the question about an ideal. What is the role of ideals in culture? Are ideals principles con-structed by reason? Do these principles deny the reality of life, or are ideals related to the self life-world rationality? Then what does the idealism of Don Quixote mean? Does it represent a utopian rationality or does it seek to show values that are not reduced to circumstance? Ortega criticizes Don Quixote as an idealist, who can’t find any ideal values in the nearest environment. Mickūnas suggests interpreting Don Quixote’s idealism as a phenomenological bracketing, which allows one to doubt the blind dependence on this life-world and question its value.Don Quijote no es únicamente una novela que representa la cultura española, sino también un héroe que revela la relación entre vida y razón. Compararé dos interpretaciones de Don Quijote. La primera interpretación fenomenológica pertenece a Ortega y Gasset y la segunda al filósofo lituano Algis Mickūnas. Las interpretaciones de Don Quijote se relacionan con la cuestión acerca de los ideales. ¿Cuál es el papel de los ideales en la cultura? ¿Son los ideales principios construidos por la razón? ¿Niegan tales ideales la realidad de la vida o bien se encuentran los ideales relacionados con la racionalidad misma del mundo de la vida? ¿Qué significa entonces el idealismo de Don Quijote? ¿Representa acaso una racionalidad utópica o trata más bien de mostrar valores que no se hallan reducidos a la circunstancia? Ortega critica a Don Quijote como un idelista, que no es capaz de encontrar valores ideales en su entorno más próximo. Mickūnas propone inter-pretar el idealismo de Don Quijote como un poner entre paréntesis de tipo fenomenológico, que nos permite dudar de la ciega dependencia del mundo vital y cuestionar su valor.

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Mothers Now Childless: Personal Transformation after the Death of an Only Child

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying ◽

10.2190/lt9p-9pj7-0rxh-ed2c ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 167-186 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Kay Talbot

Keyword(s):

Human Development ◽

Personal Identity ◽

Unique Form ◽

Important Indicator ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Conscious Decision ◽

Past Life ◽

Child's Death ◽

The Impact

This author's research is the first to address the dual loss of a child and of the role of parent. Earlier published findings (Talbot, 1996–97 & 1997–98) have emphasized the search for meaningful ways to continue “mothering” as part of a new, more integrated identity which acknowledges the child's death but also preserves the child's memory and honors the woman's past life as a mother. A positive life attitude (as measured by the Life Attitude Profile-Revised, Reker, 1992) was found to be an important indicator of adaptation to this unique form of bereavement. This third article discusses the impact of loss on human development and reports on factors associated with changes in personal identity experienced by the participants. Four factors were found to be common among those participants who felt they had survived their loss and changed in positive ways: 1) resolving a spiritual crisis brought about by the child's death; 2) making a conscious decision to survive; 3) reaching out to help others by volunteering or working in a helping profession; and 4) integrating what was learned from surviving the child's death into a new, more compassionate identity.

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